The Tales We Tell
by Herr Wozzeck
Summary: In District 10, a mythologist worked as a guard employed by MNU. This is his memoir of his time there, and what the stories he collected there say about the aliens as a sentient race.
1. Foreword

The plot bunnies love to attack me at the most inopportune times, I tell you!

But in this case, it's good that they did. Because I now have places to put my OC's for this movie! You'll meet them all, along with a human character that I didn't originally plan to exist but sprung out of my mind due to the inspirations for this project.

So, what to say? _District 9_, Wikus and Tania van de Merwe, Christopher and Oliver Johnson, MNU, and prawns/poleepkwa as a race do not belong to me (as much as I would love to own all those aliens so they could live a better life). They are the property of Niel Blomkamp, Peter Jackson, and the guys at Sony Pictures. However, the stories that are told, Curtis Bax, and most of the alien characters are copyright me.

So, yeah, let's begin with this sort of quasi-memoir, quasi-story collection. Why?

With a foreword! Away foreword!

* * *

**The Tales We Tell**

A Memoir of Gathering Stories in District 10

_By Curtis A. Bax_

* * *

_In Memoriam Edward Masterson_

* * *

Foreword

It's been a very long time since it all began.

Fifty years have gone by since the poleepkwa first came to earth. I was not even an embryo in my mother's womb at the time, so I had no way of knowing it when the news that they were starving refugees had faded away from international headlines four years later.

Another thirty or so years would go by before they left this planet without creating a fuss. This was surprising to everybody, seeing as how we figured they would at least attempt to murder people for what we did to them during those thirty years. But, the mothership left twenty-eight years after it arrived, and then three years later it came back and took its people home. There was no war stretching across the entire planet; they simply left.

That three-year period was the centerpiece of my interaction with the alien race. I was studying abroad at Johannesburg in my third semester as a graduate student writing a dissertation on Bantu mythology when the mothership left the earth for the first time. The news had made national headlines all across the small nation at the south-most tip of Africa, and Wikus van de Merwe was then in the spotlight as South Africa's most wanted man. I know more about the events than I truly want to, however; the person housing me was the man who had uncovered the secret MNU experiments. So I knew that the whole affair with Wikus was made up by MNU long before the news made national headlines after he reappeared. His close friends at the company also ensured that I got a job as a guard working at District 10 after I had completed my studies, as I had really come to love Johannesburg as a city.

In a way, it is a curse. I was an MNU employee once, so the shame of the company's near-instant bankruptcy once the truth came out has attached itself to my name amongst my closest friends and family. None of my family or close friends have ever looked at me quite the same afterwards, and until I published my first volume of collected poleepkwan mythology they thought I was in the same racist league that the bloated corporate heads of MNU were in.

In a completely different way, however, it is a blessing, and it is one that I will not soon forget. For it was thanks to these connections that I first became acquainted with the poleepkwans.

It is also thanks to this that I gained the interest to collect their tales. I was never the kind for analyzing myths in great detail; my clear bias towards the world's lesser known pantheons always showed whenever I had to write a paper comparing them with the more analyzed and well-known pantheons. For that, I would always consistently get lower marks. However, I excelled at research, and even in my undergraduate years people were saying that I would go on to collect stories from many sources.

But then, even I did not expect that I would be collecting the tales of a race that did not even originate from this planet. I always imagined I would collect South American mythology instead of this.

The wheel of destiny had something else in mind, however, and before I knew it I had immersed myself in the non-confidential MNU files about the aliens. This stemmed an incredible curiosity in me that would not leave me alone throughout my final semester at Indiana, and so I resolved then that I would collect alien mythology.

So as a result, I took a job with MNU to guard the aliens at District 10.

I was right there in the heat of the action when the mothership returned for a week and departed just as quickly as it had come.

It would be another five years before they would return back home to hit the restart button on our relations. This time, everybody learned from their mistakes; we let them set up diplomatic relationships here on earth, and since then they have been accepted as a part of society without much problem.

There was a long period of interspecies turmoil in which xenophobic tensions ran high, but much like the American Civil Rights movement of the sixties, the aliens have won their basic rights in the countries they have chosen to reside in. I also have the distinct feeling that the fear of being invaded contributed something to their smoother transition to life with us.

It was shortly after they returned that I got my first collection of poleepkwan mythology published. I will admit to unfair play here; I was sort of turned off to publishing the poleepkwan mythology and fairy tales after they left the second time. I knew that in a world without them, the stories I had collected would be of no merit. Thus, I held on to every audio copy, busy translating while writing a book on Norse Mythology.

When they returned to stay, however, I knew that their mythology suddenly had relevance in this world, especially during the transitional period when they were beginning to integrate into society. I am often credited with helping relations along by publishing stories that fascinated people, and on the surface, this charge is correct. These stories do have universal appeal; I have met many people who related to the struggles of the poleepkwan hero Asbawevix in ways that even I did not think of when I first published the translated tale.

If we go deep into the heart of the matter, however, we find that the charge is unfair.

In reality, the credit is anything but mine; I only translated the stories to make them relatable to an audience that would never be able to speak the poleepkwan language as it is spoken by the poleepkwans themselves and that would have a difficult time learning their alphabet. The true heart and soul of the stories reside within the poleepkwans. Much like the stories of Achilles and Odysseus and Balder and Jiraiya, the epic heroes of poleepkwan stories are a part of the very fabric of their beings. They relate the struggles and glories of their people. Their tales are as much a part of their person as the _Illiad_ is to the ancient Greeks. If anything, I feel like I am cheating the poleepkwans by earning profits with their stories; as much as I try to capture the essence of a poleepkwan story, I can never get it quite right because I am simply the wrong person to tell the tale.

So in this memoir, I have taken great care to think about the stories that affected me most and that I have put off publishing until now. The tales we tell have a certain poignancy depending on how we tell them, and so in this memoir I talk about the stories that spoke the most to me-- and that augmented the incredible friendships with the poleepkwans that I met in that concentration camp a long distance away from Johannesburg twenty-one years ago.

This is the story of how I acquired the stories. On a deeper level, however, it is also about the people that tell the stories, and what their tales say about them as a sentient race.


	2. To The District

Okay, I got six reviews on a single chapter. A new record! *gasps*

But, enough of that. I'm glad you guys have enjoyed everything so far, and I hope to keep meeting and exceeding your expectations.

With that, I don't really have a whole lot to do, other than to start going. Here, we have that obligatory chapter where I introduce all the human characters. Some you'll like, some you won't, so yeah.

Also, there's a note just under here. With this, I'm trying to keep with the style of most apartheid memoirs (most specifically _Kaffir Boy_ by Mark Mathabane), and in doing so I do put that note there. It won't really matter since it's a fictional tale, but, well, it's nice to know that some characters have name changes.

With that said, here we go!

* * *

Note: To protect the identities of some of the people in this memoir, the names of almost everybody in this memoir have been changed, except for Dirk Michaels, Piet Smit, Wikus and Tania van der Merwe, Marius van Embden, James Stanton, the MNU-issued names of all of the poleepkwans mentioned, the poleepkwan names of those individuals, the members of the now-defunct Poleepkwa Help Alliance, and the members of my family.

* * *

To The District

I had just gotten my master's degree from Indiana University when I had surprised one of my favorite professors with the fact that I had wanted to become a security guard with Multi-National United. The first thing he did was to rant and rave about how I was squandering my mind until I had explicitly mentioned that to collect tales, one often had to go to the places people would expect least.

After that, he understood. He told me to be careful and to watch out that nobody, especially my own kind, tried to kill me.

To be honest, I knew I would be having a lot more problems than that on this undertaking. First, was making sure my audio recording equipment could get into the district without being scrutinized too much by the rest of the security I was joining up with. MNU had allowed us to take one electronic and one peripheral to the district, so I decided that the audio recorder could go in first, and then I could take a better microphone as my peripheral. I would also try to pack spare batteries, as those didn't count as a peripheral. So on that, I was set; all I needed to do was to come up with an excuse as to why I would want an audio recorder and not a camcorder.

Second, was the problem of getting a house in Johannesburg to stay at over the times we had on leave. MNU benefits included that a few of us could go on leave every weekend to Johannesburg if we signed up by Wednesday of each week, so we all had to have a property to go to during the weekend. I was rather lucky on this part, however; I had met one of the company's directos while I was still a grad student, and we had gone on to have a talk about the fact that the Illiad is an anti-war epic as opposed to a pro-war epic. He must have liked me a lot, for when he caught wind that I wanted to work with MNU he granted me his daughter Tania's house for me to stay in when I took my weekend leaves.

Thirdly, was arranging all of my travel needs. This wasn't so hard; since I would be spending two weeks in my parents' home at Glasgow before flying to Johannesburg. Honestly, the arrangements had not been too difficult to make; all I really had to worry about was missing the plane and hoping that Tania arrived at the airport on time to pick me up and head straigh for MNU headquarters, where they would brief me and suit me up along with a few other new recruits.

And then came the problems of being in the district itself. I knew that I would have to be able to get an excuse to venture into the district. I knew that I would have to hide whatever audio I collected from anybody else, along as make sure that nobody saw me enter the district with my audio recording equipment. I also had to learn the fancier terms of the poleepkwan language, and fast.

But most of all, I knew that the most gargantuan task awaiting me was finding a way to earn their trust. If the rumors of the secret MNU experiments were true (which they ended up being), then I knew that the poleepkwans would not take to my presence kindly. I knew I had to gain their trust if I wanted to collect any stories. How I could do that, however, was unfortunately left entirely up to me through no fault of my own.

But I knew that I would handle those problems once I got there and saw how everybody functioned in the district. The thoughts would not leave me alone, though, and so I lived with them, right up to my last day with my parents in Glasgow.

* * *

I remember my last day in Glasgow with my parents. My older brother Andrew had stopped by the rather small house we lived in then to say farewell. He himself was moving to France to live with his girlfriend, and so we had one last night together in the house.

I remember the conversation we had when we sat down at the dinner table, enjoying some haggis as we talked about our future engagements.

"So I hear you're moving to Johannesburg," began Andrew in the middle of the meal.

Hearing this, I looked at him, and the proud face he always wore. "It's true," I said. "I took a job with MNU to guard their new 'district'. Although, from what I've seen it looks more like a concentration camp than what a species should be living in, so unless they deliberately want us to think of apartheid again I say they should change it."

Andrew shrugged at this, my mother and father simply smiling from the ends of the table as they watched us talk. "Indeed, indeed," he replied flatly, missing the humor I had been trying to convey.

I was never one to be successful at making people laugh, anyways. My father looked at me then as I took a bite out of my food, a slight leer in his eyes.

"I still can't believe you're squandering all that education to become a security guard," he said.

"Oh, it's much more complex than that," I replied. "You'll see what I mean once I get out of the job."

"Well, why don't you tell us why you took the job, dear?" asked my mother as she came in from the kitchen with a baking dish of deserts hot from the oven.

I was feeling a little uncomfortable by this time, so I coughed nervously. "I want to keep it a surprise for you," I replied nervously. "I think you'd like the surprise I have in store. I just ask that you trust me."

"Well, okay, dear," she said. "But if things get too out of hand, then I will not rest until you tell us what is going on with that."

I nodded at this, and then looked to Andrew for a short period of time. He continued after taking a bite out of the haggis that was still on his fork. "So, uh, do you have internet access there?"

"I wish I did," I replied, shaking my head. "The problem with being several kilometers away from Johannesburg is that there is no internet access. Or phone line, access, for that matter."

"Really?" he asked me then.

"Besides, even if I did, I would be so busy attending to making sure everything is running smoothly that I would scarcely have time to talk with you guys on the phone," I said.

Andrew nodded then. It was true after all; one of the things MNU warned about in the applications was that the aliens would constantly try to stir trouble, and that I had to stay alert. I knew better than to fall for such racist dogma, though, and I knew that while we did have to stay alert, the word 'constantly' constituted a kind of exaggeration that to be honest made me a little uncomfortable.

After taking another bite of the haggis, he motioned to me and said something that didn't quite leave my mind when I was at the district.

"Don't believe everything they tell you, Curtis," he said. "I've always got this feeling about MNU. Those experiments rumored to be true I feel show that--"

"All right, dear, calm down," said my mother, sensing that a dispute could occur. "There shall be no saying anything bad about Curtis' employer at the table, you hear?"

I rolled my eyes. My mother was always too worried for her own good. "Mother, it's fine," I replied. "MNU does not have the money to watch every little thing I say thousands of kilometers north of Johannesburg."

With this, I turned back to Andrew. "And besides, given my profession, you honestly think I would take everything they say seriously?" I asked. "I'll probably see the gods of Mount Olympus before I believe absolutely _everything_ these people tell me!"

This time, he chuckled, getting my intention. "Good," he said. "But still, I thought I'd remind you."

"I am a mythologist, I specialize at analyzing words and collecting other points of view," I said. "So that right there should tell you that I'm bound to be skeptical about some of the things these people tell me. Thank you for the reminder, though."

Having said this, I took a sip of my water. Thinking about it now, however, I probably should have taken his words to heart more than I did when I arrived at the district. It would have caused so much less anguish later. There were a lot of things I should have done or thought of differently at that dinner table at my last night there.

Then again, I did not expect a whole lot to happen. I knew that I would be forced to sit by a fence while sneaking into the district every so often to collect stories. That was all I was expecting. Some of the things that happened at the district, I would never have seen coming at such an early point in the tale.

In a way, there was nothing I could have done about my expectations so early on. And I didn't, instead continuing to chew on the last piece of haggis I would eat in a while.

* * *

The flight to Johannesburg was fairly uneventful. Given Africa's airspace, though, I really should not have been so surprised that there was very little to do other than to watch the in-flight movie and thumb through a few pages of the edition of Edith Hamilton's _Mythology _I had brought with me for reading. I was never fond of long flights, although thankfully the flight to Johannesburg was not as difficult as the trans-Atlantic flight I took to Glasgow two weeks earlier.

The plane ride was essentially uneventful. It was when I arrived at Tambo International Airport that things really began to take off.

Getting into the country itself was rather laboriously long process. My passport was in my hand at all times, but the line was so long I almost stored it back in the breast pocket of the travel shirt I had worn to the small nation. When I finally got to the desk, I was relieved when I was let into the country. Customs was easy to get past as I had not packed any food or drink items. Sitting at the baggage claim took a little longer than I thought it would, but there was really nothing else I could do about that. I had packed lightly, though, so I only needed one bag and one trip to the currency exchange would be all that I would need before using the pay-phones that were all over the place.

Once I had converted all of the money I had with me into the South African rand, I proceeded to head for the nearest payphone to call Piet Smit, as it was his daughter Tania that I would be staying with.

He greeted me jovially, glad that I had come to Johannesburg in such a timely manner. He told me he would call his daughter and tell her that I was there. After that, I had run out of coins, so I knew that I would have to wait around a half-hour for her to come by to pick me up.

Tania van der Merwe was very punctual in picking me up, and when I first saw the grey sedan pull up with a blonde woman inside, I waved a friendly hello.

She was cold and indifferent. I greeted her warmly, but it just seemed to bounce off of her like she was made of steel as she took my bags into the sedan. Confused, I passed it off as residue from a stressful day and hopped into the car with her.

I remember I tried to get a conversation going in the car. Mostly about trivial things, like the weather or the news or even how her life had been going. Whatever the case, she must have made a resolution to ignore me, because she only acknowledged me by glancing back at me every so often with eyes that were aggravated by my attempts at being friendly. This kept up throughout the entire time she drove me to her house.

In fact, she only ever spoke to me once she had pulled into the garage and stepped out. I followed, grabbing my things.

"You are strictly forbidden to go upstairs, Mr. Bax," she said. "Your bed is in the living room, and you are to make your own meals."

I was taken aback by how strict she sounded then, the words coming out of her mouth like barbed wire with arrowheads for barbs.

"Um... all right," I had said, accepting it. "Never go upstairs, make my own meals, and sleep in the living room. Got it. Do you have a sofa bed or a futon in there, if you don't mind my asking?"

She only glared back at me before leaving the garage, the door closing behind her.

I stood dumbfounded in the overly hot garage for a few minutes, wondering what her deal was. Piet had told me that she was usually a kind, gentle soul and that she would not hurt a fly. The way she had been acting when I first met her, I figure she would have fit right in with the Amazons or the Sirens or possibly even the Furies with how she ignored me.

Shaking my head and shrugging, I went into the house. Something had definitely gone wrong in her life, and I had set one of my goals then to figure out why she had given me such a cold shouder when we met. It was a question that would have a rather shocking answer, and I'm repulsed to this day that I didn't see the solution sooner.

* * *

The next day was thankfully briefing from the company on our mission, although from what the applications had told me I had figured it would be useless since those were incredibly detailed. Nevertheless, I went, as I knew that the company would not let anybody enter without having been briefed first.

I will never quite forget the room. The room was essentially a structure with plain white walls with many chairs placed about in a rather uninteresting fashion. At the head stood a projector, in front of which a rather intimidating man in his fourties was positioned. I sat down quickly, the rest of the recruits slowly filing in as I moved along. We were all in our MNU-issued uniforms by this time, and the room began to feel very much the same to me.

Finally, though, I settled into my seat and looked over to the man in his fourties. He looked at me with hard steel-colored eyes that seemed to bore holes into the back of my skull. I thought to myself then that I would never like this man or anything that he stood for. He simply stood there, and when the time came to begin, he coughed to bring attention to himself.

He introduced himself as Colonel James Tomlinson, and he went on and on about many things that I already knew from the applications. The aliens were dangerous, we had to be wary at all times, all the rest of the shebang.

However, a detail that I picked up was that whatever happened in District 10, stayed in District 10. That policy of secrecy had never even been mentioned before in any of the applications, and it left me a little confused. That would certainly put a dent in my story collecting mission. However, they could never kill secrets they did not catch, so I knew that I only had to be extra careful in hiding my audio files and backing it up to plenty of places. I thought of sending all my compressed files to Andrew, and nodded, remembering that my laptop rested in Tania's house and that I could always use that to send him e-mails whenever I went on leave. I decided on this plan of action as he continued going on about other things that were never mentioned in the application.

Such things included the specifics of our equipment, and I saw a few opportunities for getting some of the poleepkwans to trust me in there. Keeping these in the back of my head, I listlessly watched the rest of the briefing.

Almost as unexpectedly as it began, the briefing ended, and then we were to check the projector for our convoy assignments. I picked up the bag of gear I had packed, glanced at the projector, and headed in to get myself armed.

* * *

There were six people to a transport, with a driver and a companion to sit next to him as he drove along the South African countryside. The transport looked like a vehicle that the military would have liked to use. I still don't understand why MNU felt the need to spend money on vehicles like this to send us out to District 10 when I was sure that a normal car would have worked just fine.

Honestly, though, the ethics of it all were only minor quibbles, so I dropped them. Besides, I had no complaints about the space we were in. After all, it was quite spacious, and that was really the most important thing about the journey to District 10. I kept an assault rifle perched against my shoulder as I set my pack down, sitting and watching listlessly as the others on my transport came on. We were pretty silent at first, and as the doors of our transport closed, I remember that there was an air of indifference in there.

As we began to move towards the district, though, the man sitting next to me began to look around him a little, and for a few seconds I felt his glance fall on my face. The silence was uncomfortable, but every one of us was afraid of breaking that silence except for the man sitting next to me. When I finally had mustered the want to look down at him, a rather small head of brown seemed to greet me there. He was a little older than I was, and definitely just the slightest bit shorter as well.

Finally, I gulped, and looked out to everybody else.

"I hate awkward silences..." I said finally, breaking the silence. "They make me feel quite uncomfortable..."

The effect was instantaneous. The entire rest of the group broke out into hearty laughter, and even I could not help holding a chuckle in. The man across from where I was sitting nodded, smiling suddenly.

"I hear ya, man!" he said, the strong Afrikaaner accent getting into my ears fairly quickly. "The silences be fookin' killers, I tell ya!"

"Indeed," said the man sitting next to me in what appeared to be a more tempered Afrikaaner accent. "I would have broken the silence, but he beat me to it."

The person on the end of the side of the vehicle I was sitting on nodded. "Eh, we always get that," he said. I deduced from the voice that he was an American immigrant to Johannesburg, although why he would have wanted to come to South Africa of all places puzzled me. "Whenever someone wants to do something great, we always beat others to the punch. Just like my Uncle Harvey always told me."

"I guess..." said the person sitting across from him, a rather light Nigerian accent permeating his speech. "It's always something strange."

"Well, never mind that," I said, looking over to the man sitting across from the person next to me. "So from what I understand, we are a unit together?"

"Definitely," said the person sitting next to me as he gestured to the others. "So... who wants to introduce themselves? Talk a little about themselves?"

The Nigerian man on the part of the truck across from me nodded. He introduced himself as Abejide Bamgbala, and that he was originally from Nigeria and was an immigrant to South Africa as well. The person sitting to his right had volunteered to go next, and with a rather soft voice he introduced himself as Hendrik de Jager, a native Afrikaaner originally from Cape Town. The person sitting next to him then introduced himself, with the name of Dawid de Beer, who also came from Cape Town and was actually a rather close friend of Hendrik. Why they had not spoken to each other upon entering was a question I would never get an answer to, despite how badly I wanted such an answer.

The man at the end of the bench jumped on this opportunity rather quickly after these rounds of introductions had been made. "I'm James Stanton," he said cheerfully, that smile flashing so bright it was almost as blinding as his friendly green eyes. "I'm from America, originally, and I actually moved here because my mom had gotten a job with MNU a bunch of years ago. So I've been living here, and I've decided to join up with this since my father was on the Air Force in Vietnam."

Heads nodded, and then the person sitting next to me adjusted himself in his seat. "I'm Marius van Embden," he said. "I'm orginally from Pietermaritzburg, and I actually enlisted in the South African army before I got this job. They're not gonna use me, though, so MNU picked me up, and here I am helping guys keep those prawns in place."

I nodded, realizing that the time had come to introduce myself. "And I am Curtis Bax," I said. "I'm originally from Glasgow, Scotland, and I moved over here very recently because I am rather fond of Johannesburg. I studied here when I was in college, so here's hoping I can stop by Johannesburg."

Heads nodded, and then we continued talking, the six of us getting to know each other as we saw the city and then the countryside roll across our visions.

* * *

Finally, we heard the driver knocking on the glass as we talked.

"We're here, boys," said the driver suddenly.

Looking outside of the window on my side first, I saw what they meant. To my side of the vehicle, I saw the white tents of District 10 for the first time. There was a huge perimiter fence, and I thought I noticed large piles of garbage all over. There were guards pacing every which way there, and outside of the district was a pair of rather large tents. I assumed that that would be where we stayed when we were off duty.

"Looks pretty damn closed to me," mentioned James quickly. "No good for keeping the chickens in the coop, like my Uncle Harvey would tell me."

"That seems like the whole point, man," replied Abejide behind me. "Gives us control over them."

James glanced at Abejide uncertainly. "Yeah, but if you know anything about raising chickens in a coop, you know you have to get them to like you even a little bit first if you wanna hold them up somewhere," he replied.

"Well, ya never know how things go here, man," replied Henrik. "Those fookin' prawns have a bunch of tricks up their sleeves, I tell ya."

"So do we," I pointed out. "How do you think MI6 was able to function as a secret organisation?"

Marius and James both chuckled at this, but those in the other side of the truck just gave me wierd looks. I felt their eyes burn into the back of my head, but I payed it no mind. I already knew I was awful at humor, especially if it involved James Bond films.

"Yeah, I see your point," replied Marius. "But to think..."

I caught my first live sightings of the poleepkwa as I heard Marius go on and on. I will admit that an uncertain terror came over me as I saw these creatures for the first time. They were quite ugly and looked very intimidating even from where I sat. And yet, something about them drew me to them.

Those were the ones I would have to collect stories from. And in my first glance at them they seemed to call out to me like they were the Sirens singing for their next meal.

I was jostled out of my thoughts some time later by the truck stopping by the two large tents. Turning around, I saw the door of the transport open.

"All right, boys," I heard someone say. "Welcome to District 10!"


	3. An Act of Introduction

All right, so last time Curtis entered the district. Where does this lead to?

Lots of stuff. You'll see what goes down.

In the meantime, though, if you guys have any comments you want to make on the chapters, by all means, R&R!

Now let's build up his trust with the poleepkwans, shall we? Away with the next part of the memoir!

* * *

An Act of Introduction

The next day, I has woken up, feeling surreal about being in the District. It was one of those moments that I anticipated, yet I remember that I moved along with Marius and James. The three of us were sleeping in the same area of large tents, and so I was following Marius and James closely as we moved to the mess halls for our morning meals.

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm actually not looking forward to this," said Marius as we weaved between hoardes of other security guards moving throughout the tents. "I thought the job description looked good... but these guys have enough people here!"

"Well, you never can be too careful," replied James, crossing his arms in front of him. "You don't count your chickens until they hatch. Uncle Harvey told me that one."

I shrugged, having heard that phrase from my mother when I was a young boy myself. "That's true," I replied, shrugging. "But still, I do wonder what we will be asked to do in our first tour guarding the district..."

"Probably nothing much," replied Marius. "We'll find out soon enough anyway when we get assigned to our tours."

"I hope things don't go too badly," said James then. "I really hope we don't have to deal with something crazy on the first day of the job."

"Bah, I really don't think that will be the case," I replied. "According to our commander, they have not been moving much lately."

Marius lanced at me uncertainly. "But he did say they might have done that to lull us into a false sense of security."

I chuckled. "What, when we are armed and their arms are in a store-room somewhere?" I asked. "They know what they could potentially be up against once they see our assault rifles."

The Afrikaaner glanced at me uncertainly. "You never know with these things..." he said. "We shall see..."

As much as I hate to admit it, I mention this here because I was right. The main storyteller I met eventually met told me that the guns were a show of power on their end, and that the poleepkwans feared any kind of retribution that would result in their extermination. And so, they never plotted anything. I did come across as a bastard when I said what I said, but in the end I ended up being correct.

But right then, I had nothing to prove my claim, so I shrugged to Marius' comment. I knew that at least I could find out something about my shifts that day when I reported for duty. And then I knew I could work something out with my schedule so that I could attempt to contact the poleepkwa. I doubted I would be very successful, but I knew I had to try something.

* * *

As luck would have it, I was given one of the night shifts with Marius in addition to the noon shift that I would be working with James and Abejide. This worked for me in that I knew I could work under the cover of darkness to gather some tales. Marius was of course out of the loop with my ideas, but I would make sure that it would change very quickly.

Right then, though, I was busy watching on the day shift with Abejide by my side and James leaning by the side, his assault rifle in his hands. We were all rather bored; nobody had really tried anything that day, but the fear of rebellion was still there.

To be quite frank, I was a little nervous seeing the poleepkwa up close for the first time. I am sure to this day that their appearance was what caused me to be more than a little unsettled. MNU was quite right in their descriptions of the aliens looking incredibly intimidating.

But at the same time, I understood that these people had done nothing wrong. They had come from a foreign world, had found themselves abandoned here, and were dangerous only because MNU was pushing regulations on them that they should never have considered shoving into their faces in the first place.

Thus, my emotions can be summed up as a very strange kind of unease. It was the kind of unease of not being sure what to do, like asking a teenage girl out to prom. In this case, however, it was almost surreal.

My thoughts were interrupted when Abejide slammed his open palm down on my shoulder.

"Hey, why you staring into space like that?" asked the Nigerian, his accent thick.

I had not even realized I had spaced out, so I shook my head. "Sorry," I replied. "I tend to let my mind wonder when I really should not."

"Nah, it's all fine," replied Abejide, white teeth standing at a stark contrast against his dark skin. "I just don't want these prawns to get you off guard."

"I'll be fine," I replied. "The prawns probably won't kill me if I don't attack first."

Abejide gave me an odd look. "And how do you know that, man?" he asked. "These prawns! Look at them! They look like they could tear you apart, man!"

"Well, they did come to us starving in a ship," I replied. "So I don't think these people are intuitively evil, even with their weapons. It's best to leave them be."

James simply looking at the aliens with a gleeful glint in his green eyes. "Yep," he said. "That's the way to think about it; they won't do anything to you if you don't do anything to them."

The Nigerian simply glanced at me and shrugged, turning his attention back to the aliens in front of us. "Fine," he said. "But don't come to me when they try to kill you."

He ended the discussion there, and I looked to James as he chewed on a piece of grass.

"What's his deal?" he asked me, the gleeful glint in his eyes gone as he looked to Abejide.

"I'm as clueless as you are about that," I replied, shrugging. "I get the feeling we'll find out eventually, though."

The American nodded as we continued keeping our guard, looking at all of the poleepkwans go by as Abejide stood a very short distance away from us.

* * *

As Abejide would find out from my second day on the job, I was indeed correct.

Abejide, James and I were simply sitting around, making sure the prawns did not do anything when I thought I noticed one of them coming very close to Hendrik's group a long ways down the fence from where I was. James was the first one to notice this, and then Abejide and I looked to see the black shelled alien pass by. There was a bandage around the alien's left hand, and it had gotten quite dirty for some inexplicable reason.

Without any warning, I thought I saw Hendrik shoot the poleepkwa a hateful glance with more venom than any human had any right to by my opinion. The poleepkwa seemed to notice this, and pretty much stood there. I think Abejide had registered that the alien was showing fright, and before long the alien had disappeared from our line of sight.

It was admittedly a very anti-climactic way of seeing the first dredges of hatred between the humans and the poleepkwans. But the amount of hate in Hendrik's glare told me that the tensions between many of the MNU guards and the aliens were at the point where they could be cut by a plastic spoon.

I am under the impression that Abejide and James got the same message from this interaction, and then we all looked at each other.

"D'you see that?" asked Abejide. "That prawn looked frightened, man!"

"I know what you mean!" I replied, nodding. "It didn't look like the thing wanted any trouble either..."

Abejide nodded as James glanced at him. "I told ya," replied James. "If you don't let them do whatever they want sometimes, then they get pretty scared and that's when everything bad starts to happen."

Abejide nodded. "I'm just gonna stay here, then," he said, holding his gun by the barrel.

"And I take it you will only fire if they move towards you?" I asked.

"Unless I see them attacking someone else, yes," replied the Nigerian.

I nodded. "Good," I said. "That, I think, is the right attitude to have."

"It's like that war we had in America way back then," replied James, drumming his fingers across his gun. "They enforced too much on us, and we fought back."

I glanced to the side distastefully before resuming our watch with full attention in front of us.

* * *

As part of MNU regulations, we were always given a few cans of cat food in case the poleepkwa were particularly unruly. They said it would serve as a kind of distraction. I personally did not know what would make one of the poleepkwa distracted about an aluminum can of severely processed tuna, but then again I am not a poleepkwa and I would not understand that, so I decided to take their word for it and take the rations of cat food anyways.

I would realize on my second night that the one thing that MNU used to try to distract the poleepkwa successfully would work against them. I would also find out in one of the oddest ways that the cans of cat food were the best ways to earn a poleepkwa's trust.

Marius was with me that second night shift, the Afrikaaner glancing around to make sure nobody had violated our curfew. We were more spread out as we knew that the poleepkwans would likely be incredibly tired and thus knew that they would not exactly try anything at night. Or so MNU figured, but the guards knew better than to let their guards down.

The night was rather peaceful, the night sky sending its sparkles of light down to us.

I remember that Marius had suddenly grabbed my sleeve and pulling me close. I was able to feel his breath, the heat providing a stark contrast against the cool night air.

"I think I saw something," he said, indicating something with his other hand.

I glanced in that direction, and in the darkness I could make out a small form advancing through the tents, attempting to make sure that it would not be seen as it lugged a large sack of something behind it. It seemed to go about nervously, almost as if it was frightened by the fact that it was carrying a load to heavy for it to carry. Its big, auburn eyes seemed to glance around uncertainly, its small body moving forward

A strange feeling of pity welled up within me upon seeing this, and I desperately wanted to show the thing that I would do whatever I could do to help.

I took a step forward, but Marius held on to my sleeve tighter. "Curtis, don't!" he hissed through barred teeth.

The warning came a little too late, though, for them the thing looked back at the both of us, its eyes open wide in terror as its small form turned and nearly fell against his sack.

At once, the frown that had come on Marius' face faded away, replaced by a look of confusion. I of course was quite shocked at what I saw.

"It's... it's a child..." I whispered softly.

There was a tense silence between Marius, myself, and the child, none of us really sure what to do about the present situation. The silence went on for about a minute before I glanced to the side, knowing that the other MNU guards in the area were too far away to see us.

I knew then what I could do to earn this child's trust.

I turned to Marius and held out my weapon to him.

"Hold this for me," I said, gulping after I had said it. "And whatever you do, do not point it in that child's direction."

"Curtis, are you insane?" asked the Afrikaaner in disbelief. "You know what these things can do!"

Glancing back at the child, I decided to pull out the excuse I had crafted for such an occasion. "I get the feeling that if I can get their trust, then they will be more willing to comply," I said. "For what, I'll tell you later. Besides, he's only a child. You know what they would say if they found out we killed a child! Just, trust me Marius. That's all I'm asking."

Glancing around nervously, Marius gulped and nodded.

"Okay," he said. "But if you die, then I was never in on... whatever you're planning to do."

I nodded. "That works, I suppose."

With this, I turned to the subject and walked slowly forward. The child flinched briefly, but I simply kept my gait rather slow and approached him slowly. As soon as I got close to it, I knelt down to his level, and it looked up, some of the fear seeming to have been driven away slightly.

"Don't worry," I said. "I won't hurt you."

The poleepkwa glanced at me, antennae flittering about in the air as he looked at me uncertainly. I understood that he was likely terrified of me, but was complying either because of my friend or because I did not have my gun with me when I approached him. I will assume it was the latter.

It clicked uncertainly at this, the language going by my ears. I will admit that at that time my alien was quite rusty from not having exposed myself to the spoken form of the language enough. However, it had pointed at my badge as it appeared on my bullet-proof vest, so I assumed that it was a gesture of fear based on what I was.

"I'm..." I began uncertainly. "I'm not like most of these people. When I say I won't hurt you, I won't hurt you. All right?"

The poleepkwa's antennae went about once again, and this time he seemed to relax a little. It clicked some more, pointing to the bag it had been hauling behind him. I was uncertain of what it was, but I knew that it had some significance for him.

I nodded. "Okay," I said. "I'll tell you what; if you ever have to haul this bag again, then you can come through again this way, and I promise that neither I or my friend here will try to kill you."

The poleepkwa's eyes seemed to light up a little bit when it heard this, but it still pointed to my MNU badge while clicking.

"Again, I'm not like most of these people," I replied. "I'll stay true to my word. And I'll make sure my friend here stays true to it too."

The alien's eyes lit up happily, flashing what I could only think of as a poleepkwan smile before grabbing its bag and going back to wherever he lived in the district. As it left, it turned to me and clicked. I interpreted it as a 'thank you', and I knew I would be hearing more of that soon.

Smiling, I stood up and resumed my stance where I was besides Marius. He simply blinked at me when I took my gun back.

"Damn, you're good," he replied. "You think he'll be back?"

"I know he'll be back," I said, nodding my head. "And when he does, I won't be doing anything."

The Afrikaaner had raised an eyebrow at me then. "Why?" he asked.

"I told him he could go through here without getting in trouble if this ever happened again," I told Marius.

Marius was not pleased by this. "Curtis, are you crazy?" he asked. "What about the captains? What will they say?"

I blinked at him then, knowing a few things that he was paranoid of. "The captains?" I asked. "If we don't tell them anything, they won't have anything to say. Besides, you think anybody else can see us in this darkness?"

Marius just shrugged. "Well, whatever fills your cup," he said. "I'm just not sure this will all work out. But if it does, I think he'll like you a lot."

"_It_ will like you a lot," I corrected, holding a finger up. "The prawns are hermaphroditic, so I think that's the best way to refer to one until we find out their MNU issued names..."

Marius frowned at me. "I don't know," he said. "I think they might take offense to that."

"German has the neuter tense," I replied, almost without skipping a beat.

"Yeah, but this isn't Germany, this is South Africa," Marius told me then. "I'll tell you what; if he likes you enough to answer that question, then I'll bet you something. If they get offended by being referred to as 'it', then you have to give me five rand. If not, then I have to give you five rand. Deal?"

Rolling my eyes, I nodded. "Deal," I said. "Whatever you do, no word about this to anyone."

"Don't worry about that," replied Marius, nodding with a smile on his face. "I trust you enough from how you've been handling yourself lately to let you do whatever it is you plan. And you better tell me what you want to do here!"

"Duly noted," I said.

With this, we turned our attention back to the grounds of the district, neither of us aware that the one interaction I had just had would be the beginning of my story collection.


	4. The Bloody Gifts of Jorgal

Okay, we are moving along now!

So, thankfully, this chapter sees our first story told! So we shall see what that does!

As well, I thank you guys for the feedback! Whatever you do, don't stop the feedback from coming! I love to hear what you guys have to say!

So I'll shut up now and bring you the first poleepkwa tale!

* * *

The Bloody Gifts of Jorghal

The little poleepkwa child did indeed take up the offer I presented him. And so, for a full month Marius and I allowed him to go through without any problem. Oftentimes he would stop and gesture to me, and then he would say a few things to me. I have to be thankful for this; hearing the poleepkwan language up close with such a high frequency made me versed enough in the language to understand what could be said, and to him I have to be thankful.

The child's MNU issued name turned out to be a male name, so from this point forward I shall refer to the child as 'him'. The child had been given the name Matthew Wagner by MNU. From what I had seen of the first month, he was almost like a human child. His curiosity certainly knew no bounds, and often his speech was directed to asking what something was. His eyes always shone brilliantly even in the darkest night, and whenever Marius would look on he would comment on how seeing the child with such a positive outlook on life amid such squalid conditions brightened his day a little.

Of course, we had no idea how truly awful the district was at all. After all, we had not entered it yet. But we knew that it had to be bad, otherwise the child would not be moving around with the heavy bag in the first place. Matthew was never vocal with me about who he was hauling the bag for, but then again I understood that he would not want to talk about it, so he became less and less apprehensive about me bringing this up.

Marius was thankfully very compliant with me, and he never said anything to anyone, not even our superiors. He seemed to see the kind of charm that the child exhibited, and so he chose not to intervene at all.

All of the pleasantries kept up for a month.

And when I felt things could not go better between myself and Matthew, something happened that would change things radically.

* * *

It had been like any normal night shift with Matthew strolling by. However, Marius and I both sensed that something had happened as he strolled by, for his eyes were not the usual bright and curious auburn that I had grown used to seeing. Almost as soon as I saw this, Marius held his hand out, knowing that probably Matthew would want to stop by to talk with us.

When he gazed at me longingly, I nodded. Putting my gun in Marius' outstretched hand, I walked forward and knelt in front of the small poleepkwa.

"Hey, Matthew," I said. "You seem a little glum today..."

The poleepkwa was silent at first, glancing down at the ground uncertainly before pulling on his bag.

It was then that I noticed that it was much lighter than it usually was. Looking at the bag, I moved around on my knees.

"I guess you didn't find a whole lot, huh?" I asked. "Well, it shouldn't be so bad. I am sure there will be plenty of rubbish left tomorrow for you to pick up."

The child looked at me sadly before shaking his head.

_"It's not that."_ he clicked tepidly. "_It's... one of... is sick... He could... hunger..."_

I was still having a difficult time trying to understand a few of the clicks he had thrown into the sentence that I had never heard before, but I knew that someone was dying, and he could not find enough food for this dying friend of his.

"Is..." I began, uncertain of what I wanted to ask. "Is this person who's sick really close to you?"

The poleepkwa nodded. "_He's my..."_ and then he clicked a word I was unfamiliar with. "_And he's dying... he just needs food... But I couldn't find any..."_

I understood the implication that the clicks I did not understand had; I sensed that Matthew would not be so distressed if there was no blood link between him and the person he was trying to help. Thus, I nodded in understanding as I patted his shoulder. I stood up, holding my index finger out in front of him.

"Wait here," I said.

With this, I went back to Marius, and crossed my arms in front of me.

"Marius," I began, remembering some of the MNU regulations. "Do you mind if I steal your ration of cat food?"

Marius raised an eyebrow, soft aquamarine eyes giving off an air of confusion. "What for?" he asked.

"The kid needs food," I said. "And he'll need more than just my ration of cat food by the sound of things."

At this, the Afrikaaner balked, his jaw hanging open for a few seconds. "Are you insane?" he asked in a half-whisper, half-shout. "How are we going to explain that to the captains?"

"Some little children stole our rations in the middle of the night and they retreated into the tents before we could enforce the curfew," I replied bluntly.

"All right," said Marius, still a little shocked. "But even then, what'll happen if the tentmates want to thank us? How do we explain not being on guard there? Why are you so interested in being friends with these people? You know what--?"

"I don't know, you can stay where you are and I can go in, I'll explain that to you later, and frankly I could care less what Hedrik and Dawid would say about this," I cut in, silencing the Afrikaaner. "Marius, I promise you I will explain _everything_ that I hope to do here after the child leaves. But please, just trust me here. I know what I am doing. All I am asking for is a little bit of faith."

A clear silence came out from there, and I could feel Matthew's eyes looking at the back of my head uncertainly. Finally, Marius nodded, unclasping the cat food rations from where they hung on his belt.

"All right, here," he said, handing his cat food rations to him begrudgingly. "Here are my rations. I just hope the excuse you told me to use works."

"Thank you," I said, turning around with the ration of cat food in my hand.

As I walked back to Matthew, I saw his eyes widen as I unclasped my own rations of cat food from my bag. We had about ten cans of cat food in our MNU issued rations, so the gift I gave to Matthew that night consisted of twenty cans. It was not enough to feed an entire tent of poleepkwa, but if it was only one person as I had suspected (and would later be proven correct on), then twenty cans should have done the trick.

Thus, when I knelt back in front of Matthew and offered him the rations of cat food, he blinked, genuinely surprised at this gesture.

_"For me...?"_ he asked uncertainly.

"Yes," I replied. "Someone needs to feed your relative eventually. Take the cat food. It should be enough."

Before I could figure out what happened, Matthew had leapt onto me, his arms enveloping around him in what I could only assume was a hug. For being a child, his arms were surprisingly tight when they had hugged me, to the point that I actually found it a little difficult to breathe. When he let go, I handed him the cans of cat food, and he quickly stashed them in the bag he had been dragging behind him.

_"Thank you..." _he said, eyes bright. "_You're not like most of them at all. You're..." _and then he clicked another word I was unfamiliar with.

I nodded, feeling quite happy that I had done something for him. "You're welcome," I said. "And I hope the relative of yours in question gets better..."

He chirped merrily, and then grabbing the bag he moved on, his step more resolved as his auburn eyes were lit in happiness.

I smiled and watched him go, standing up as I saw his form disappear into the night. Turning to Marius, I walked back to the fence and stood by his side.

"Okay, you promised to tell me what you were planning on doing," he said. "Now talk."

I nodded, and then I told him my mission statement about collecting the tales from the poleepkwa.

* * *

The next morning, Marius and I had both picked up new rations of cat food. The guards that gave us our rations believed our story without a second thought, leaving Marius to stare at me with a blank expression in his eyes as soon as we had gotten far enough away from where our commanders stood. Shrugging, I had told him simply that some people were easy enough to read.

It was with those words that I had to leave him with, as I was running the slightest bit late for my day shift. When I got to the part of the gate I was supposed to be guarding, James and Abejide looked at me with concern on their faces.

"You were almost late, man!" exclaimed the Nigerian. "What took you?"

"Sorry," I replied, holding a hand up. "I had to get my ration of cat food replaced. Some children came in the middle of the night and stole my ration during my night shift. They did the same thing to Marius, actually."

"Oh, my..." said James, nodding. "That can't have been a good thing..."

I shook my head. "They had gone off before I was able to stop them, though..."

Abejide nodded, pointing to the poleepkwas behind him. "Well, hopefully they won't be causing any problems to us..." he said, smiling.

"Let's hope not," replied James. "By the way, have either of you guys seen Dawid lately?"

Abejide and I both shrugged. "Why?" I asked.

"Well, don't you think it would be nicer if we could see each other more regularly than this?" asked James candidly.

I nodded, realizing his concern was quite valid. "Well, we do have the weekend..." I replied. "Since none of us have any optional shifts, we can just hang out as a group again."

James nodded, rubbing his chin in thought. "That sounds like a good idea, that," he said then. "Abejide, when you're in your night shift with Hendrik, let him know what we're hoping to do, all right?"

"Course, man!" replied the Nigerian as we took our posts. "What else do you want me to tell him?"

As they continued talking, I could not help but feel that somebody was staring in my direction. As I turned to look in the direction it had come from, I saw a rather tall poleepkwa adult looking right at me, blue eyes scanning me over. I was unable to see why with the crowd of aliens that was going around, but I thought I had caught glimpses of Matthew from where I stood.

As soon as I blinked, however, the poleepkwan male had disappeared from my line of sight. I shrugged, adjusting where I stood as James and Abejide seemed to drag me back into their conversation.

* * *

The night shift came almost before I was truly ready for it on that particular evening. I had almost forgotten my ration of cat food, and I had to figure out a way to hide my audio recorder so that MNU guards would not see it. I ended up taking out one of the bullet-proof pads in my armor and placing the audio equipment there and leaving my microphone in a spare pocket. MNU guards going into the district never got checked before their shifts, so I was able to get away with bringing the audio recording device in.

I'm still not quite sure what spurred me on to bring the audio recording equipment. I would probably label it instinct, as I had the feeling that something was going to happen on that day that would change many things.

To this day, I am glad I went through that trouble of finding a way to bring audio recording equipment into the district. In retrospect, I am not overjoyed that I did, but I still harbor positive feelings towards that decision.

It was thus when Marius and I had arrived at our post when he began looking at me.

"You know, Curtis..." he said. "Can I be honest here?"

"Take a stab," I replied, nodding. "My temper is not as bad as you would think."

He frowned then. "I don't know..." he said. "You said you wanted to collect tales from them... And that you had to earn their trust to do so..."

"That is correct," I said. "What bothers you about it?"

He shrugged sarcastically, and then I knew he was against my decision. "Well, I don't know," he replied. "Your act of kindness last night... That's all an act, isn't it?"

This reaction to my plans alarmed me. I knew people would probably brand me a traitor wanting to make profits off of the poleepkwan stories, but I hadn't realized until then that someone would think of me as being a hypocrite. It shed new light on my situation, and I can't say that I was pleased to hear it.

At the exact moment that Marius had asked, however, I was outraged by this. "Excuse me?" I asked, keeing calm. "These prawns were rumored to be experimented on, Marius. If they can go on an act of kindness, then--"

"Then you won't get any damn stories, that's what you won't get," replied Marius bitingly. "If they're all dead, they won't be able to tell anything."

I frowned then, upset by how brutally honest the Afrikaaner was being. "You do understand how things could benefit them if I ever get to publish the stories, right?" I asked. "It would be great for the non-humans rights groups."

"No, it would only satisfy your sense of greed," replied Marius bitingly. "You'd be making profits off of all the volumes sold, right? And where would those funds go, anyways? I'd really like to know the answer to that. Or is it be--"

"Marius." My reply to get him to stop rambling was quick, so much that he paused in his surprise. "You're getting it all wrong. The publishers are the absolute _last_ people I would think about in a situation like this." I turned, looking out to the stars. "Marius, tell me something; have you ever been so curious in your life as to want to do something wild to see it for yourself?" He was silent then, and I only heard him grunt in reply. Hearing this, I turned to face him.

"That's what I feel whenever I think about it," I continued. "If I could hear these stories told, then that would be like parting the clouds to get a glimpse at what the Gods are doing on Olympus. It would be like climbing to the top of Yggdrasil and seeing the universe in all of its glory. In other words, it's something that I would simply love to hear. So this was never about money."

Marius was silent for quite a while afterwards. When I turned to look at him, he had a rather mellow expression on his face. I was able to tell right when I looked into his eyes that he was still not convinced.

"Well, the money is taken out of the equation, but you're still taking advantage of them," he replied. "I'll support your mythology drive the instant you admit to whoever tells their stories that you are doing this. But until then, you will not be getting any kind of direct help from me."

I understood that I would not get across to him if I continued to try and coax him. I nodded simply, and we continued watching over the tents of District 10, never saying a single word to each other in that time.

About fifteen minutes later, however, I saw Matthew come through the camp. However, in addition to the brown bag I had seen him carrying around, he had with him a fully-grown adult poleepkwa. I felt Marius stiffen in place where he stood.

I recognized the poleepkwa from earlier in the day. Its blue eyes looked down at me kindly, Matthew looking up at me expectantly as his antennae twitched against the adult's leg. I will admit that seeing one of the adult poleepkwans so close to me for the first time was a little unnerving, but I stood my ground. Marius simply stood to the side, and I could swear he was shaking a little. I can't say I blame him; the silence was probably the most threatening part of it all.

Finally, I fidgeted nervously and looked up.

"Uh, may I help you?" I asked. It was an utterly stupid question to ask, but since I had no idea where to start I decided to begin with that.

"_Yes, you may,_" replied the adult poleepkwa. "_Matthew says you gave him the cat food he came home with last night._"

"That's correct," I replied, nodding. "And before you ask, it's rationed by MNU. I don't think I can tell you why we get them..."

Here, the poleepkwa let out a sound that I could only guess was the equivalent of an amused snort. "_I though so..._" it replied. "_People always... try... control..._" here it rambled off with a few words I could not understand at the time, until, "_It's actually funny._"

Marius chuckled. I picked up from that action that it was supposed to be funny, so I chuckled as well. (I did get a good laugh when Marius revealed to me later that it had said 'people always stumble over themselves with silly things when they try to control others that aren't like them'. I laughed not because it was funny, but because when he had told me that, I knew that it was incredibly true.)

I nodded, doing my best to try to understand what was being said. "I'll bet it is," I replied. "Matthew here told me that his uncle was suffering from hunger, right?"

It was not an incredibly lucky guess on my part. Marius had told me after I had told him about my proposed mythology collection that the creature was trying to feed its uncle. I have Marius to thank for helping me with some of my translation woes in my first month and a week of dealing with the poleepkwans, as back then he knew the language far better than I did. (Which is ironic, seeing as how he considers me the better translator of the poleepkwan tongue today. But I digress.)

The poleepkwan nodded. "_He is..._" it replied. "_But he's getting better. We have your cat food to thank for that._"

"I'm glad to be of help," I said.

The adult nodded. "_None of my friends from the tent... him,_" it said. "_And talking to you now... Matthew wasn't lying_. _But they don't... it._"

I filled in the blanks with my mind then. I did not need to hear the whole sentence to know that they were talking about how none of the people believed Matthew then.

But it left me confused, as I was at a loss for where it was going with that bit of idle conversation. Thus, I rose an eyebrow.

"And... and where are you going with this?" I asked.

"_They won't believe him until they see you sit with us for an entire night,_" replied the poleepkwa sternly. "_So..._"

"So you want me to come with you?" I asked, taking the hint suddenly.

At this, Marius came behind me. "Oh, well, see, we--"

"Marius, please." I was rather stern with this. "Back off."

"B-but Curtis!" replied my companion. "You can't just go off in the middle of the night with things that might--!"

"I understand that," I cut in suddenly. "But if you will stop your raving for a second and think about it, then they will only attack if I attack first. Calm down, Marius."

Here, the Afrikaaner seemed to exhale visibly, looking at me with disbelief in his eyes. Finally, he nodded, holding his hand out.

"Well, at least let me hold your gun," he said.

I smiled, taking my firearm and handing it to him. "There we go," I said. I turned back to the poleepkwa. "Just know that while I'd like to sit through the entire night, I might have to leave a little early before morning shift goes on duty. But you have my word that I won't try to harm anyone."

The poleepkwa nodded, and then it turned around. Matthew looked up, his auburn eyes flashing in glee as I began following. Something occurred to me then, and as we began to move away from the edge of the tents in the shadows, I looked over to the poleepkwan adult.

"Oh, dear..." I said. "I should have asked this earlier... but... What's your MNU-issued name?"

It grunted distastefully, but nevertheless it turned its head to me.

"_Caroline Masterson,_" it said. "_I should've asked you for your name too..._"

"That would be Curtis Bax," I replied. "A pleasure, Caroline."

And we moved into the tents, the darknes covering our movements from the eyes of the other MNU guards.

* * *

Finally, Caroline and Matthew came to a tent about a ten minute walk from where Marius and I were stationed. Matthew entered slowly, and Caroline parted the tent flap, gesturing me inside. Nodding, I went in first, and then she let the flap down behind her.

And right before I could speak, I heard angry clicking.

"_A human?_" cried one of the people in the tent. _"Caroline, I told you not to do that!_"

"_Jamecyn, I know what you said_," replied Caroline. "_But you have to trust me._"

At this, I saw an old kerosene lantern get turned on within the tent. Matthew and Caroline both stood to the side, Matthew's brown plates contrasting against the white of the tent as Caroline's blue exoskeleton made itself painfully clear.

Within the tent, however, I saw five other poleepkwans, two of them with a dark greenish-black plating, one sharing Caroline's coloration, and two others sharing Matthew's coloration. One of the greenish black poleepkwans had looked at me with anger in its amber eyes, then, and what I had [correctly] assumed to be its mate simply looked at me, antennae flitting about. One of the brown poleepkwans was laying on a makeshift bed, looking up at the top of the tent blankly as it turned its head slowly to face me, the other one looking at me and blinking.

As soon as the kerosene lamp had begun to give off light, a tense silence took over, and suddenly I felt myself at a loss for words. Between being stared and glared at, I felt myself terrified of being torn up by an accidental mis-step.

"Uh... Good day..." I said nervously. "I'm Curtis Bax... And, well..."

I sighed, rubbing the back of my head.

"I really hate awkward silences. I really, really do. They make me more nervous than I generally have any right to be."

I figured I had said something completely off key by the way the stern amber-eyed poleepkwa looked at me, but when I heard what must have been a poleepkwan chuckle from the well-to-do brown poleepkwa to my right, I raised an eyebrow.

"_That's fine,_" it replied. "_Matthew has told me all about you._"

I looked at him as he sat at the edge of the makeshift bed where the other brown adult was laying. "And you are...?" I asked.

"_His parent_," replied the poleepkwa. "_Mark Wagner would be my MNU-issued name._"

The one in the bed turned on its side slowly, looking at me with pained eyes. I recognized it instantly as the uncle that Matthew had been trying to help.

"_Thank you..._" it said softly. "_For the cat food... I'm feeling better now..._"

"Any time," I replied with a genuine smile. "And you are...?"

"_Harold Williams..._" replied the poleepkwa.

"_Hm... I still don't trust you,_" said the larger of the two dark-green poleepkwa. "_I still think you're up to no good..._"

"_Jamecyn, please_," replied the smaller poleepkwa by its side. "_Just let him stay here._"

"_What, and wait for him to kill us?_" shot back the larger of the two poleepkwans.

I sighed, rubbing my head. "Look, I can hear you perfectly clearly," I said. "And I can assure you that if I had wanted you dead, I would have come running in here with my gun blazing. As it is, my firearm is back with a friend, so just calm down."

The larger of the green poleepkwans simply glared at me. "_Oh, shut up_," it said.

And before anybody could say anything else, the larger poleepkwa turned on its side, facing away from me and putting a pillow over its head. Looking down, the smaller poleepkwa shrugged at me.

"_You'll have to... my mate,_" it said nervously. "_My mate gets really angry sometimes..._"

"Why?" I asked, suddenly curious.

The smaller green-plated poleepkwa glanced to the side with uncertain brown eyes before shaking his head. "_I shouldn't tell,_" it said. "_It's a needlessly complicated story. Anyways, I'm David, and this is my mate Jamecyn. David and Jamecyn Bansfield._"

I nodded, appreciating that the mate was able to step in. "A pleasure, David."

The poleepkwa's antennae twitched, and then the one that had been standing by Caroline looked at me with a stern gaze, yellow eyes looking seemingly into my soul. However, his gaze softened the more he looked at me, and he nodded after a few seconds.

"_I can see you mean no harm,_" it said at once. "_Give Jamecyn some time. She'll warm up to you eventually._"

I nodded uncertainly, looking over to the grand poleepkwa in front of me. It was a little taller than Caroline, thus making it the most intimidating of anybody in the pack. However, its eyes were incredibly gentle, and it looked like the kind of poleepkwa that had never hurt a fly if the lack of scars said anything.

"_I'm Edward Masterson, by the way_," he replied. "_I'm Caroline's mate_."

I nodded, looking at him in admiration of how such a great being could look so gentle at the same time. "A pleasure, Mr. Masterson," I replied.

And it was thus that I met all but two of the most prominent poleepkwans I would meet.

* * *

For an hour, some of us had had some fairly idle conversation. In the course of this, Harold had nodded off to sleep, and David and Mark had both turned in as well. Edward was still keeping a vigilant watch when they had, but he knew I would not try anything strange on him.

It was thus that Caroline tucked Matthew into bed next to his ailing father, the smaller poleepkwa nodding off slowly. As Edward sat on the ground facing him, Matthew suddenly chirped.

"_Can you tell me a story?_" he asked innocently.

Thinking quickly, I brought my hand slowly to my bullet-proof vest and hit record on the audio recording device twice. Edward did not notice (or if he did, he did not bring anything up immediately), and so I knew I was safe.

"_All right,_" began Caroline.

And she proceeded to tell the first tale that I would collect in my time there.

* * *

**Once, long ago, was a grand queen. In her early days, she had been unjust and unfair, but as time went on, she brought her domain to great glory and now ruled with a gentle hand.**

**Every lunar cycle she would ask for a series of great gifts from her most loyal workers, all of whom would reply in kind. They did so, not because of their unwavering loyalty, but because of her grand kindness to her subjects.**

**And so, on one year, the five workers that were most loyal to her were approached by her messengers. The most loyal of all, Jorgal, was approached by the grandest majesty and asked to make a grand feast for the queen and her loyal subjects.**

**Thus, Jorgal went to work, and with the other four assistants he created a grand feast that would make the swarthy millock monster* breathe its fiery breath in jealousy. When the feast was done, it was rolled out in front of the queen and her loyal subject, all except for her three children.**

**And so they ate, the meal consisting of delicious delights that were so delectable they denied description. Slabs of black meat lay neatly arranged on the feasting-table, with bright, bubbling broth set to the side. The arrangement defied description, as it was so beautifully laid out as to make the very Gods themselves tremble in admiration.**

**As they ate, the queen turned to Jorgal, and asked of him "Whence did you get such delectable meat?"**

**Jorgal simply nodded. "I will tell you in due time, oh great queen," he replied. "But first, we shall wait for your children to arrive."**

**The subject was dropped then, and the pleasant feast continued. The conversation was merry, the food was good, and the drink was delicious; that alone was enough to distract the nobles with enough grace.**

**Finally, when the feast finished, the queen turned once again to Jorgal. "My children have not arrived yet," she said graciously. "Do tell me, where did you get such great meat?"**

**Jorgal nodded, the sly one's reverent eyes going out to the crowd. "Ten lunar cycles ago, there were two children who, in their wrath, your guards had killed. Those two children were mercilessly murdered without so much as a second thought to anybody who might be watching. And you, my grace, stood there without so much as a second glance.**

**"Those were my children you killed. But that can be forgiven, because they have been avenged."**

**The sly one then gestured out onto the table that the subjects had been eating from. "For you see, my lady, your own children are in your bellies, for the meat was their flesh, and the broth was their blood. You enjoyed your own children without even knowing it!"**

**And there was much disgust afterwards, the lords vomiting their share of the meat as Jorgal watched with an indistinguishably pleased look in his eye.**

**In her rightful paternal rage, the queen sentenced Jorgal to death, and so the death sentence was carried out against the man who created such beauty with immense sinister intent. And thus, Jorgal went down as one of the most notorious criminals of the era.**

* * *

Matthew was already asleep by the time the story had finished. Edward as well had slowly nodded off to sleep, Caroline looking at me.

"It'll be all right," I said. "I can find my own way back if it must come down to that."

And so, the poleepkwa slinked over to Edward slowly, turning to me briefly. Pointing to the kerosene lamp, she made a gesture to me.

I understood what it meant, and so she moved to where her mate was and fell asleep by his side. I hit the stop button on the recording device then.

I spent another hour or two looking at the poleepkwa's bodies, taking in every detail of them. Jamecyn and David were both clothed only by a lioncloth, while Harold had a dirty white shirt on with tears at the sleeves. Mark went completely naked for the most part, with Matthew wearing a discarded pair of jeans for children that had a tear just under the belt loops. As for Edward and Caroline, they both had on a matching pair of brown shorts, with Edward's pair being slightly longer and Caroline having the luxury of being clothed by a discarted tank top. I also took note of the many scars on Jamecyn's carapace and the scar over Mark's eyebrow ridge.

And after I had looked at each poleepkwa until I could imagine them behind closed eyelids, I leaned over to where the kerosene lamp was and slowly turned it off. Silently, I stepped out of the tent, and made sure that the searchlights that I knew would most likely be on at that hour were away from me before I slinked stealthily back to where Marius stood.

* * *

I like to think that _The Bloody Gifts of Jorgal _would have been a great way to start one of my other story collections. But, no matter where I seemed to put it it would always seem a little off key.

Here, however, it is more than appropriate, as we talk about the poleepkwans. When they first came, I hear that there was a backlash to them because of how ugly they were percieved to be. I had also heard about all the stories of poleepkwan violence that forced MNU to quarantine them into District 9.

This story to me disproves that sentiment. For anything that is capable of great violence or ugliness is capable of astounding beauty as well. There are many cases I can think of within our own race in which this is true, but in terms of poleepkwan stories, I feel that _The Bloody Gifts of Jorgal_ is a grand illustration of this concept.

It would also set the tone for the rest of my time at District 10; as I would find, that sentiment would be seen many times over.

And I would notice each time it did.

* * *

*) millock monster: Millock monsters are a mythological creatures that were notorious for their insatiable hunger. In terms of how hungry they were, they are comparable to the Norse serpents Góinn and Móinn, who chewed at the roots of Yggdrasil for what Odin speculated would be all eternity.


	5. The Unlikely Hero

All right, so I got my first tale in. And from the looks of things, it seems I'm going on the right track here! Let's hope I can continue going on that track!

So, yeah, we've pretty much gotten the entire cast in there. Only thing we need now is to introduce two characters (one of them being a canon character in D9's universe) and make sure some others get appearances *coughPietSmitcough* and we're good.

With that said, we should get Curtis to admit to Caroline what he did, yes? So away chapter!

* * *

The Unlikely Hero

For nearly a week after Caroline inadverdently told me her first story, I would end up going into the tent during the night shift before the searchlights came on to check up on Harold. The adult poleepkwan had indeed gotten much better under my watch, and at least he was sitting on the edge of the bed as the week wore on. Every time, Matthew would ask Caroline to tell a story, and every night I would secretly record what the poleepkwan had told. It was through listening to the playbacks while I was off duty that I began to get better at my poleepkwan, and certain words began filling themselves in for me as time went on.

Of course, Marius was no help, as he had stolidly refused to help me if I had not told Caroline what I was doing. I was sure that Marius was in the wrong during the beginning of the week.

And so, I collected my stories, storing them onto a flash drive thanks to a computer that James had brought along as his electronic. (He allowed me to use it since he had an evening shift instead of a night shift. More often than not Abejide was using it, but I was able to get my hands on it a few times, which was more than enough to allow me to transfer my sound files.)

But as the week went on and I recorded more audio files, a nagging doubt had begun to assail my being. She had told all her stories with her back to me, and so she was unable to see that I was recording her as she told Matthew her bed time stories.

It was not a feeling of guilt so much as it was a feeling of dirtiness that crept up in my being. I felt very dirty doing that to Caroline, and over time I had begun to think that perhaps Marius' suspicions were not unfounded. The more I thought about it, the more I was able to look past my veil of excitement over being able to hear these stories.

And in the end, I realized that no matter how delusional I was about the subject, Marius had the right idea all along. I would still be taking advantage of her, even if I gave her credit. She had told me stories without her knowledge after all.

I was unsure of what to do after this realization dawned on me, so for a day, I just went and did not record a story. I sat there, listening to the inflection of Caroline's speech as she told Mark the story.

Somehow, it made me feel better not recording it. And then I realized that I was definitely feeling dirty from the unknowing recording.

Thus, when I went to take a brief nap after my night shift, I had resolved to ask James about it.

* * *

I trusted James the most out of anybody else in the camp aside from Marius. The quasi-American and I had never really gone to each other for advice before, but for the most part I knew that James agreed with pretty much all of my major views on how to treat the poleepkwans. He of course still thought they were violent, but he also understood that people from his parents' nation were also astoundingly similar and he was no stranger to the wrongs that apartheid had brought down upon the black population of South Africa.

Thus, I felt most comfortable asking him for advice since I was afraid Marius would begin lecturing me on how I should have said something in the beginning.

Finding him alone was a little difficult. Thankfully, Abejide had contracted some minor sickness and decided to take a sick day, so that left James and I alone, with only Hendrik's group to watch us.

"It sure is a nice day, isn't it?" he asked first as we moved out to the district, watching the poleepkwans mill about between the tents.

"Yes, lovely day," I replied. It was true; there were very few clouds in the sky, and so the sun was allowed to shine through onto the camp. I think some of the poleepkwans were merrier as a result, as I noticed their body movements becoming more and more lively as our shift progressed. "I do wonder if Zeus had enough of torturing us with the rain for the past few days..."

"Oh, you and your mythology references!" replied James, shaking his head. "Besides, I don't think Zeus was the god of that stuff, from what I remember of mythology."

"No, but he could order people around," I said. "He is referred to as the father of all men several times throughout the Illiad, so he has that kind of power."

James nodded, and after a pause of a few seconds I shifted where I stood. "James, do you mind if I asked you something?" I began.

The American looked over to me. "Ask me anything you want," he said.

I nodded and turned to face him. "I... I've made a friend out here..." I began. "Among the poleepkwans..."

I paused a little, uncertain of how he would react to that. This left an awkward silence, and after a while James simply glanced at me.

"Well?" he asked.

I blinked uncertainly. "You're not offended?" I asked.

"Why should I be?" he asked, crossing his arms and drumming his index and middle fingers on an elbow. "If anything, these guys might work with us since they have your trust. And if they trust you, then I think others will have an easier time making these guys work with us. Sounds cruel, but hey, if letting Hirohito live was the key to making diplomacy work in Japan, then I think that letting these guys trust us will get us farther than beating them over and over again."

"Oh," I said, laughing nervously as I brushed my fears away with a dismissive wave of my hand. "Well... anyways..." I coughed and continued. "Well... this friend of mine... I've been doing something without her... it... her knowledge... and--"

"Curtis, Curtis, Curtis..." interrupted James. From the way he had began pacing with a slight swagger in his step, I could tell that he was not pleased. "You know you can't just do something like that."

"Well, it is not even anything that is hazardous to her health," I replied. "I've been recording... stories... she tells them to a child that's in her tent... And I've been recording them because I have such avid interest in their tales."

James was silent for a few seconds, and so I continued. "But lately I have been feeling dirty for recording the stories without her knowledge..."

The American nodded silently, looking to me. "And you want to know what you can do about it," he said.

"Precisely," I replied. "I would have asked Marius, but I do not want him to be too angry at me..."

James nodded, closing his eyes before looking out to the poleepkwan camp. I stood there uncomfortably, and then a silence passed us both by as we stood there. I was waiting for him to talk, and I am unsure what he was waiting for me to do. The silence itself was a little uncomfortable as we saw the aliens moving about during the day.

Finally, he turned to me, a grin on his face. "Well, what I would do in a situation like this is just tell her... it... him... whatever, just tell them the truth of what you've been doing."

In the moment, I had been caught off guard. "It is that simple?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yep," he replied, smiling knowingly. "I know, it might not sound like the best thing to do. But it's just an audio recording. You're not hurting them. The next time you can get this friend of yours alone, just tell it the truth. And I'm sure it'll understand your curiosity. We'll have to see. But what do you have to lose by telling the truth?"

I nodded, smiling. "Thank you," I said, nodding. "I think I'll tell her tonight during my night shift."

James raised an eyebrow at me. "Her?" he asked.

"Her MNU issued name is Caroline," I replied, rolling my eyes back in my head as I chuckled. "Thus, the her."

And as we both continued talking about my friends, a solid bond had begun to form between me and James. Originally, I had liked James because he offered sound advice. He always had a clear head, even if he had to go against the opinions of his superiors to do so. He rarely took things at face value, and if he did it was because of something he had thought about earlier.

After that coversation, though, I had found that James was actually a very pleasant person to talk to in addition to all of this. He would end up being one of my best human friends in the District alongside Marius, mostly because he was just a very nice person in conversation. He rarely cursed (as my mother had warned me once, having grown up in Providence, Rhode Island), and he was generally pleasant to be around. I felt at ease, and I told him some things I would not even tell Marius because he made me feel at ease with myself.

This ease would wind up being of great help later during my time in the District, this series of events only being the beginning of a great friendship.

* * *

When I went to check in on Harold that night, the poleepkwa was actually standing up when I entered the tent.

"_Ah, Curtis, a pleasure to see you around here again!_" he exclaimed. I was able to understand much more from listening to the playbacks and from hanging around them for several hours where I was supposed to be watching over them.

"Same here, Harold," I replied. "You feeling all right?"

"_Yes,_" replied the poleepkwan as I took my place at the foot of Jamecyn and David's bed. Edward and Caroline were both away from the entrance of the tent, Matthew sitting by Mark where he was on the ground. "_Thank you for asking._"

"Nothing to it," I said, looking nervous when my eyes had fallen on Caroline. "I hope the rest of you are all right as well."

"_We are,_" replied Caroline.

I glanced down at Jamecyn and David, noticing that they were both sleeping soundly. "What happened to them?" I asked.

"_Daddy said they went outside and rolled in the dirt!_" exclaimed Matthew in an overly cheerful manner.

"_Oh, dear..._"

At this, I couldn't help but chuckle, thinking about how amusing the situation really was. "I can imagine that it must have been pretty tiring for them..."

"_Curtis!_" cried an outraged Mark, before going on to speak with words that I did not understand at the time.

Remembering that I needed to talk to Caroline, however, I looked over to her, ignoring Mark's ranting as Harold tried to get the father to calm down.

"Caroline, can I talk to you alone for a second?" I asked.

The poleepkwan raised an eye ridge curiously. "_What for?_" she asked.

"I'll tell you once we are alone," I said, glancing nervously around.

Harold and Mark both blinked at me, Matthew tilting his head to the side. "_Well, why would you--?_" began Mark before he was interrupted by Edward.

"_I see..._" said Edward. It was then that I knew that he had in fact noticed me recording everything his mate was saying. "_If you attempt something funny, then I will hurt you._"

After this, Harold and Mark fell silent. The truth was that even though everybody in the tent was a mind of their own, Edward was a sort of leader of the people in his tent. What he said was the final word, and not even Jamecyn contested what he said. As such, Caroline nodded. The two of us then stepped outside in the shadow between their tent and the tent next to her. As soon as we were away from the searh lights, she nodded.

"_What did you want to tell me about?_" she asked.

I glanced down at the ground, and then from my pocket in my armor, I fished out my recording device and a set of headphones out.

"I don't suppose you know what this is," I began.

Caroline looked at the device with a curious look on her eyes. However, she then looked at me, concern ridden in her expression.

"_Is that a weapon?_" she asked.

Thinking a little harder than usual, I shook my head. "It could be," I replied. "But not in the sense that it can kill you."

I then connected the headphones, preparing them for use as I continued talking. "This is an audio recording device," I began as I fidgeted with the gadget. "It can record any sound and convert it into a format that you can listen to again and again. It's completely harmless..."

And here was where I handed a half of the headphones to her. "But..." I said. "I've been using it for fairly questionable acts recently. Put it on. It won't hurt. It's just stuff you can listen to."

"_We don't have ears,_" replied Caroline simply.

Cursing myself for my stupidity, I handed her the headphones. "All right then," I said. "You put them on."

The blueish poleepkwa looked down at the headphones before bringing them to the base of her antennae, shoving them gently against her head as she looked at me. I took a hold of the recording device, clicked it around so that one of the sound files of Caroline telling her story would be played, and then I hit play.

Watching her expression shift as she listened in, I noticed that at first she was very startled by the sounds. As time went on, I noticed that her expression shifted to one of shock and then mild surprise upon listening to herself talk. Looking at me and removing the headphones, she pointed at it nervously.

"_Why am I listening to myself telling Matthew a story?_" she asked.

I inhaled; knowing that question would come, I had prepared a long bit of exposition about myself. "Well... I actually collect stories," I said. "I collect ancient stories. And I was actually in Johannesburg a couple of months ago and heard all about you. So... I got interested in your tales. And I thought... well... maybe I could listen in. So... I recorded you... without your knowledge..."

Caroline was silent, and in the moment I was unable to know what her expression was trying to convey as I knelt there, twiddling the fingers of the hand not holding the audio recording device nervously. "It's just a fascination of mine," I said. "And I didn't know how else to come at it."

The poleepkwan regarded me with that same unreadable expression, tilting her head to the side. "_And... what do you do with these things?_" she asked.

"Well... some people listen to them later..." I began. "And some people... some people actually write books of collected stories... And then they get those books printed and they get them out to people all over the world. And then they all get the chance to read those stories..."

Caroline was silent, and I noticed now by looking in her eyes that she was thinking over everything she had just been told about the stories. Knowing I would get more questions, I continued. "Look, I'm sorry, all right?" I asked. "I would've approached you about it earlier, but... to be honest, I didn't think you'd say anything if I told you. And, you know, we had only just met that night, and it didn't feel right asking you. And I know I'd take all the credit, and I'd get all the money, but if I ever do get around to it I promise you on the river Styx that the proceeds will go to non-human rights causes. I'm terribly sorry to have done that to you... I really shouldn't have..."

The poleepkwa regarded me after my long rant. Taking up that sound I had recognized as a chuckle, I stiffened, wondering why she was doing that.

"_There is no need to apologize,_" she said. "_For sometimes, your actions have... results._"

"W-what do you mean?" I asked, uncertain of where she was going. "That's exactly what I mean! When I print your stories, I get money, and that means that the property is mine, so I'm technically stealing! That's an unex--"

"_That is besides the point_," she interrupted me with. "_Unexpected results go farther than your... and who is telling the story. For the action itself can lead to a different conclusion._"

She then gestured to the recording device in my hand and nodded.

"_Go ahead,_" she said. "_Let me tell you a story..._"

Upon hearing these words for the first time, I did a double take, my eyes wide in surprise. I was in shock over that, and I sincerely could not believe what I had just heard.

"W... what?" I asked. "You're letting me record a story?"

"_You may find it relevant to why I believe this..._" she replied.

I stood still for a few seconds, trying to get it through my brain that Caroline had in fact said those things, and that she was in fact going along with me. I was in a euphoric shock over this, but I tried not to let it get to me.

If the fact that I was trembling as I looked down on the recording device and hit play twice said anything, I was doing a horrible job of it.

"Okay, speak," I said. "It's listening."

Caroline nodded, and mouthparts moving, she began to tell me the first story she told of her own volition.

* * *

**Once, long ago, lived the great one Jalintar. He was the lowest kind of elite, and was always under some kind of control in the days of old king Mickrab.**

**Jalintar was best known as a prankster, however. Always the outcast, the other elites would force Jalintar to make a fool out of himself for the pleasure of the lower ones around them. The great one was forced to do menial tasks as well, and unfortunately the great one had almost no control over anybody else thanks to this. Worst of all, Jalintar rarely performed any actual pranks without prompting from the other elites, and so they tormented Jalintar to no end.**

**However, Jalintar was made extremely bitter by this turn of events, and as the punishments began to get more cruel and more ridiculous, the lower elite had finally taken enough.**

**With quickness of foot, Jalintar broke into the house of the grandest elite, the one who put the poor great one through so much trouble. The great one had set up a violent prank within the house with the hope of humiliating the elite back for all of the anguish the elite had caused it. He was confident it would work; in all of the lunar cycles it took for Jalintar to plan the prank, there were very few ways it could fail.**

**All through the night Jalintar prepared this prank, knowing that it would not fail if the elite could not detect the lesser one's presence there. And Jalintar was clever, for the sly one had covered himself with fine oil and slinked through the house very silently. Eventually, the prank was set, and all that was left to happen was to leave.**

**However, as the great one was exiting the house where the elite slept with its mate, Jalintar came upon a hidden door trying to find a way to escape quickly. Curiosity got the better of the great one, and so Jalintar went in to the secret passage, looking around and hoping the elite would not order him around.**

**When the great one reached the end of the passage, however, he came across a sight that chilled the flesh inside of him and caused his blood to run cold. For inside the passage, Jalintar beheld a horrible sight.**

**There, in front of him, sat an emaciated young one, the poor thing looking at Jalintar with eye telling of years of torment and pain. Beside him, two skeletons were left, two skeletons of older ones, probably the boy's parents. Both skeletons had almost no flesh, and a piece of uneaten meat stood to the side, being eaten out by the worms that were all around the floor of the dark, dank chamber.**

**Feeling pity for the child and anger at the hypocritical one, Jalintar used what little influence he had as an elite to send out a signal to anybody that would care to notice. After nearly an hour of waiting, one child finally poked its head into the passage from the opposite end, followed soon after by many of the people in Jalintar's village.**

**It was thus that the taunting elite was exposed as a fraud. In anger, the townspeople rounded on him, tore his body into ten parts, and fed it to the dargs* that bayed at his door.**

**What had begun as a humiliation attempt had turned him into someone that anybody would listen to for sound advice. Jalintar's name was praised in his small home village, a****nd forever after, the great one was hailed as a hero for all lesser elites, even if his intentions were not heroic.**

* * *

We were both silent after a while. Slowly, my hand shaking slightly, I hit the stop button, and then the recorder was quiet.

We were both speechless after this. Caroline was of course putting some trust in me to say something, but I had been left speechless by what she had done. I opened my mouth several times, but each time I did, my words died on my tongue, and no matter how I worded in my head it they always died continually. Finally, Caroline took pity on me and spoke.

"_Are you...?_" she asked.

"I'm..." I replied, just deciding to forget about wording and let it come out. "I'm just confused. I'm extremely grateful you did this, but... it came almost out of nowhere. I..."

"_Think about it a little,_" she said. "_If you have made up your mind that you want more, then I will see you tomorrow night._"

And with that, Caroline looked behind her, for the spotlights had gone on during that time. And in a few swift movements, she had returned to the tent. I lingered, listening to Edward and Caroline talk a little before all was silent.

Pondering on the significance of the story that the poleepkwan had told me, I myself watched for the spotlights, and then made my own way back to where Marius stood.

When I had come back, Marius looked at the recording device in my hands, smiling a little.

"So you told her the truth," he began.

I nodded. "Not only that, but she still told me a story," I added. "I'm very confused here. I would have thought she would've been bloody angry that I had been recording her voice fo a week..."

Marius nodded to me. "Well, all I can say is, at least you are being honest with others," he replied. "What, exactly, did she say were her reasons for it?"

"I'm not sure..." I said, thinking back to the conclusions I had come across when I had been dodging the spotlights. "But she told me a story about how someone who had gotten humiliated tried setting up a prank and instead made a discovery that turned him into a hero. I think I understand what she tried to tell me, though; there's another consequence that will help them get rights. And I think that's why she doesn't exactly have any qualms with it..."

The Afrikaaner nodded, and then he handed me my gun as I put the audio recording device back in the pocket I had made in my armor. "Well, now that she knows you're doing that and accepts it, I think things will be fine," he said. "I don't know what the rest of these things will say, but you at least have my approval now that you've opened up to her about it."

I nodded, a small smile appearing on my face as I looked to the white tents in the darkness. "She did tell me to come tomorrow if I wanted to," I said.

"And have you made up your mind?" he asked.

I nodded, looking to where I imagined Caroline's tent was.

"I have," was my simple reply.

* * *

The next night, then, I trudged along in the camp quietly, patting my audio device. My gun was with Marius once again, and so I moved through the tents to where Caroline was.

And when I opened the tent flap, all eyes were on me. Jamecyn was not overly happy to see me again, as I could well imagine. However, everybody looked as if they had expected me in some form. Caroline sat on the ground in the center of the room, with Matthew perched in Mark's lap.

Standing at the flap for a few seconds before entering the tent, I glanced around.

"_Caroline told us about your story drive,_" said Edward stoically.

I glanced around, chuckling softly. "That explains why you all expected me, it seems," I said, sitting down on the ground. "Well, here I am, and I'll say that I will definitely be coming by more often."

Caroline simply looked at me with what could only be described as a smile on her mouthparts before shifting slightly.

"_Then let us begin_," she replied.


	6. Interludium I

Okay, we're on a bit of a roll here. So we've got two tales in, and we've got plenty more to come.

However, I think we should vary the pacing a little. So we'll take an interludium chapter, wherein Curtis leaves the District for the weekend, usually to Johannesburg (but at one point he goes back home to Glasgow). I'll take this time to bring a few of the canon characters back in, so we shall see what happens.

Anyways, away with the interludium!

* * *

Interludium I

After that, Caroline would actually wait for me to come over before telling me a story. I would sneak into the heart of the camp, and she would be waiting to tell me a story. That was the way things began when she heard, and it would stay that way for the remainder of our time in District 10 despite the shift of guard duty locations. There were the times I went on leave, but once I returned that schedule was put back in place, and nothing would really have changed much between us. (There was one exception, but I will talk about it when it becomes relevant.)

A couple of days afterward she began telling me stories of her own volition, I felt very good about myself. After all, I was getting exactly what I had come to the district to get, and I felt rather well. However, I had also begun wondering how Tania was faring back in Johannesburg by herself. According to what Piet Smit had told me after I had arrived and told her how mean she was to me, she had a very unlucky love life and constantly glared at men that attempted to make advances on her.

I only wondered if she was all right.

And so, the night before the sign up sheet had to be filled out, I asked Caroline if it would be all right if I could leave for a couple of days periodically. The poleepkwan was all for it, and I am excessively glad she agreed to it as well.

And so, on that Thursday evening, I had foregone the night shift, and I had gotten onto a small transport heading for Johannesburg. Sitting in that, I watched as the South African landscape passed me by.

* * *

We were dropped off at the MNU headquarters and left to get our own mode of transportation. Thankfully, taxi service came right to MNU's door, and so I was able to catch a taxi straight to Tania's house. I expect that Piet told her I was coming, so all I really had to do was knock on her door.

Which I did rather quickly, the night being very dark when I arrived. As we pulled into the house and I gave the driver his money, I thought I noticed something glinting on the porch. As soon as the driver pulled away, I looked over to the shiny thing, and walked slowly to it. I decided knocking on Tania's door could wait, as my curiosity had gotten the better of me. I knelt down by the object and was very surprised.

Sitting there was a rose made of scrap metal. It smelled awful, and it looked nothing less than amateurish, but my mind was overly amazed. I had read many tales of unrequited love, and so I assumed it was a byproduct of someone unable to express their love for Tania. The question I asked was 'but why scrap metal?'. It was a very puzzling prospect back then, but knowing what I know now I can understand perfectly why it happened.

As I looked at the rose, I thought I could feel the distinct stare of something on my back. I turned, and as soon as I did, I thought I saw something dart away.

Blinking, I dismissed it as something simple and decided that knocking on Tania's door and showing that to her would be a better idea. I thus knocked on the door three times, the knocks resounding in the small house. I waited for about three minutes, and then Tania opened the door, opening her eyes slightly as she looked as she had woken from rather fitful sleep. She had gained a little more weight from the last time I had seen her

I nodded. "I apologize for arriving so late," I replied. "I hope Piet told you that I was coming..."

"That man is not my father," she replied angrily. "So you can't talk through him. Why can't you call me yourself?"

"Well, that is kind of difficult when you have no phone there," I replied as I stepped into the house. "And even if we had cell phones, that area supposedly has no reception."

She simply shook her head and turned over to the kitchen as I took off my sweater.

"Oh, by the way, I think somebody left something on the porch for you," I added quickly. "It might be--"

Before I could finish, Tania had walked right out of the door, the slam interrupting me. I turned quickly as I heard the door slam, and then I walked over to the door, opening it after her. She knelt over the rose solemnly, looking down on it sadly. I was a little perturbed at first, but remembering that it might have been unrequited love I remained silent about my concerns. She picked it up slowly, examining it as she stood up.

It was then that I spoke.

"Tania..." I said. "That rose... it has special significance for you, doesn't it?"

She nodded. "These might be from my husband..." she replied.

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Your husband?" I asked, scratching my chin. "Your father never told me anything about you having a husband..."

She shook her head, walking inside. "Do not mention him to me ever again," she commanded sternly as she headed in the house, taking the rose with her. "As far as I know, my father is dead!"

I was nothing short of shocked by the statement that Tania had dropped on me just before she entered the house. Before I could find her to ask what she had meant, however, she had gone upstairs, so I was partly at a loss on deciding what to do about it. So I simply shrugged and entered the house, closing the door behind me slowly.

I then plopped down on the couch, and slowly I drifted off to sleep. The image of the rose seemed to hover behind my eyelids as Morpheus cast his spell on me.

* * *

I woke up rather late the next morning, and I heard the sound of a spoon rubbing against ceramics within a body of liquid. I slowly sat up and noticed Tania sitting in the other room, a spoon swirling around through her breakfast. I sat up, and slowly I rubbed my eyes as I stood up and walked over to her.

"Good morning, Tania," I said.

She looked at me without turning her head. However, her eyes did not have the anger I had thought was there previously, so I did not feel uncomfortable by it. I sat by her on the table, careful to keep my distance. Things were silent as she ate what I assumed was oatmeal, and the silence eventually got to me.

"So..." I asked. "Anything on your mind so far?"

Tania paused briefly as she had put her spoon back in her food. Sighing, she turned around to face me.

"Tell me," she said. "What did he tell you about me?"

I blinked uncertainly. "He?" I asked. "As in, 'he who must not be named'?"

"You know who I mean," replied Tania bitingly.

I nodded slowly, pondering back to what Piet had told me before I had ever set foot in Johannesburg. "Well..." I said slowly. "I guess I do..." I paused briefly, gathering my thoughts. "He told me that you were single," she said. "In need of support. And that you've also had a vey unlucky love life, with many people leaving you."

She scoffed at this, shaking her head. "Exactly as I thought," she replied, shaking her head. "Only half-truths, and nothing about the past."

I raised my eyebrows at this. "This has something to do with the rose we found last night, doesn't it?" I asked. "Your lover has been leaving them there for you, and your... 'he who must not be named'... he doesn't want to acknowledge your relationship, does he?"

Tania nodded briefly, her expression becoming quite sullen. "Yes," she replied. "But, it's not technically a lover."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Then pray tell, who...?"

"My husband," she replied, shaking her head as a tear threatened to come out of her eyes.

I frowned at her then, thinking of something else. "Your husband...?" I asked. "But... You have a husband?"

"I do," replied Tania, shaking her head grimly.

I nodded, thinking about this. "Then... Why isn't he here?" I asked.

"He left me last summer," she replied. "And he hasn't been able to return for some reason."

My frown intensified then. "So you think that these roses made out of discarded cola cans are his handiwork?" I asked, the question coming across with more ferocity than I had really intended. "Why cola cans, of all things?"

I think my tone of voice offended her, for when I had said this she turned to me angrily. "Just what are you suggesting?" she asked.

"He left you, Tania!" I replied. "Because if he left you on his own, then he probably doesn't really love you any--!"

"Don't you dare suggest such a thing!" she interrupted, anger slowly rising in her voice.. "I don't know why he left me either! He was never able to tell me!"

"Then maybe there's something he doesn't want you to know about!" I suggested back.

"Then maybe you can ask _he who must not be named_ why he left me!" replied Tania, her voice full of rage. "That man had more to do with his disappearance then my husband ever did! The last time I saw my husband he was being carted away to MNU in a body bag!"

I was stunned, and I looked down at her softly. "Tania..." I said. "Are you... Are you serious?"

"Yes!" she replied, angrily. "But you know what? You wouldn't care anyway! It's always the same with any man that 'he who must not be named' sends to me! Always!"

"What are you--?"

And before I could finish, Tania had risen and I felt a sharp sting on my cheek. The sound of a smack resounded in the small house, and Tania slammed her hand on the table, incredibly angry. "Don't pretend you don't know what he's trying to do!" she exclaimed.

And with this, she stomped her way up the stairs, the sounds echoing through the floor boards as I sat there.

I had originally thought that Piet was wrong when he had told me that Tania was sweet. Having seen how bitter she was over my appearance, though, I realized I was the problem. She disliked my presence there. For lack of a better way of phrasing it, she thought I was trying to replace her husband when she still held on to the belief that her husband was dead. Everyone would have considered her insane back then, but the feeling I had felt of somebody staring at me had told me otherwise. (As well, what I would discover later would truly kill some of my original theories about Tania.)

And so, I resolved to make it clear to Tania that even if Piet had forced me on her, I had no intention of replacing her husband.

* * *

The next day, then, I got up extra early, and went to cooking my own breakfast. I trusted her enough to be able to make her own oatmeal that morning, and so I decided not to burden her with the added weight of preparing my breakfast as well as hers.

Thus, when she had come downstairs after waking up, she looked quite surprised to see me eating a cheese omlette. She looked at me for a few seconds before sitting in the table next to me. I quickly swallowed a bite, and then pointed at it.

"You have great eggs," I commented. "Very easy to work with."

"You prepared this by yourself?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied, setting my fork down. "Mostly because I don't want you to have to cook my breakfast for me if you don't really want to."

She nodded, her expression betraying a sense of unease. "But... why?" she asked.

Ad with this, I looked briefly outside before turning back to face her. "Well, to be honest, I don't think you are insane or stubborn as I'm sure he who must not be named would think if he saw this."

"Oh?" she asked, a hint of malice in her tone as she took on an expression of faked surprise. "Why might that be?"

I rolled my eyes at this. "Sarcasm. How original," I stated bluntly. I tossed it to the side rather quickly before going on. "In all honesty, though, I felt somebody staring at my form as I arrived at the house last night."

She blinked uncertainly. "Really?" she asked.

I nodded. "When I turned my head, there was nobody there," I said. "But I still had that feeling that I tend to get when someone is drilling holes into your head with just a stare. I figured I was imagining things, but when I saw the rose on the patio, I knew I had definitely seen something real."

I then looked to her, a serious expression taking form on my face. "As well, I want you to know that with this knowledge, I have no intention to replace your husband," I continued. "I had no intention to replace him when I first arrived here. If it hadn't been for that rose, I probably never would have known that it would possibly be a prime reason why he had sent me here. I shall still communicate with me, but I swear to you on the river Styx that I will never make any kind of advances towards you of a romantic nature."

She looked at me, a genuinely confused look on her face. I sat there for a few seconds, fighting hard to suppress the smug feeling that I had gotten while telling her all this.

Finally, she brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "I..." she said. "I'm not sure where to begin... For one, what do you mean by 'swear on the river Styx'?"

"Mythology reference," I replied without skipping a beat. "To swear by the river Styx is to make a promise that you cannot undo. Not even Zeus in all his glory could break such a promise to one of his lovers, it is a vow so strong."

She nodded, seeming to understand what I had meant. "I see..." she said. "I... I don't know, Curtis... You might have to get into that line of caring for me..."

"I can still care for you as a friend," I replied. "But not as a lover."

"Well, there is something--," continued Tania before I cut her off.

"And nothing will be able to change that," I replied. "If you were pregnant, then I could just become an 'uncle' Curtis to the child."

She sat there for a few seconds afterwards, one of her eyebrows raised in curiosity as she looked at me. The Afrikaaner simply shrugged however, and so she put her arms on the table.

"But how are you so sure that you won't get in the way of the love of my husband?" she asked nervously.

I chuckled softly as I put my elbows on the table. I clasped my hands together quickly, a smile on my face. "I suppose you don't know the tale of how the Greek hero Perseus was concieved?" I asked. When she shook her head, I nodded. "Acriseus had a daughter, Danaë. He was warned by a prophet that Danaë's son would kill him, so he imprisoned her in a bronze chamber. But Zeus had fallen in love with her.

"Zeus was incredibly crafty; he appeared to Danaë in a shower of gold. And so, she became impregnated with a son anyway."

I looked at her softly. "So it just comes to show that whatever anybody tries to do, love will find a way," I finished. "Hell, it already has."

"Then what was that about him leaving me that you mentioned last night?" she asked suddenly.

I sighed softly, halfway having expected her to ask. "Well, you did say he was taken away in a body bag," I said. "So... it means that I was wrong to assume he didn't love you anymore. And for that, I apologise..."

Tania nodded at me then, my sincerity having gotten through to her. She was silent for a brief period of time before she shifted in her seat slightly.

"Actually, I should probably apologise first," she replied.

I remember being a little surprised at this. "Really?" I asked. "But I'm the one who intruded on your life."

"True," she said, waving a finger in front of her. "But my error came in assuming you were going to replace him whether I wanted you to or not. I should have at least acknowledged you exist."

"Well, I can't exactly say I blame you," I replied. "I'd be pretty bitter if my own parents were doing something similar to me. You had all the right reasons to be suspicious of me at first. I can forgive you for that."

Tania nodded. "I'm sorry for treating you so horribly," she said.

"Again, I forgive you," I said. "Now, I only touched the eggs, so I trust you can make your own breakfast."

She nodded, smiling and seeing that it was my way of showing that I did not intend to make breakfast for her at all during my stay. "I can," she said. "Thank you. For understanding. I should tell you everything..."

"Not now, though," I replied as she walked past me. "In time."

And so we dropped the topic as she went into the kitchen to make herself some oatmeal.

* * *

And so, the weekend leave passed by without the air of tension within the house that had taken hold when I had first come into Tania's life. At least, she did not seem to mind my presence there any more, and she made no attempts to remind me that she hadn't originally wanted me there in the first place.

The situation was like this when I had to leave on Sunday afternoon on that particular weekend. When I did leave, I looked back inside, making a mental note to come back again as soon as I could.

Tania saw me off in the taxi today, and she actually waved goodbye as the taxi cab pulled away from the car. I am very sure she would have done no such thing before I had seen the rose there. The rose would play a much more significant role in my life in relation to Tania and her husband, but in ways I could not even begin to imagine.

Of course, the only thing on my mind in that cab ride was all of the obvious things that could occur, and so when we pulled up to MNU headquarters I stepped out, putting those thoughts in the back of my mind and awaiting my return to the district to gather stories from Caroline.


	7. The Hero Balgernon's Quest

And we return to the District.

Yeah, so the interlude chapters will mainly concentrate on Tania, so you shall be seeing a lot more of her. She tends to be pretty angsty, I think so beware. I don't think she'll be too whiny about it, but still.

Anyways, we return, and we get more tales! Or, more specifically, our first overly long 'epic' style tale, at any rate. These will be sort of like the voyages of Sinbad from the 1001 Nights, where they take several nights to tell. But how do I make that work? You shall see.

* * *

The Hero Balgernon's Quest

When I returned to the district, things were relatively in order. Marius had not touched my audio equipment, James had not told him I had come to him about my dilemma with Caroline, Abejide was staying out of affairs as usual, and I did not see Hendrik or Dawid like I figured I would.

Thus, when I had gone to my day shift the next day, I remember just looking into the camp, watching the poleepkwans mill about. James and Abejide seemed to notice that I was lost in space while looking at them, and I could constantly hear Abejide pressing James for answers. He did not say anything, thankfully, as I would have wanted to tell Abejide by myself why I was looking so intently at the aliens.

Finally, though, he shrugged, realizing he would not get any answers from James, and proceeded to walk by my side.

"Hey, man, what's with you today?" he asked, his question not derailing my train of thought as I had heard him ask James repeatedly.

I shrugged. "I guess I'm just feeling rather chipper today," I replied. "That, and I'm curious about these prawns..."

Abejide raised an eyebrow uncertainly. "Hm... Is that why you came all the way here from Scotland?"

I nodded. "Partly," I replied. "You can attribute it to that, at any rate..."

Abejide gave me an odd look. "And that's why you took your master's degree and tore it to shreds when you came here?"

Upon hearing this, I started, turning to him with a shocked expression on my face. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?" I asked. "I would never rip that thing apart!"

"Well, according to Marius you went to America and went to college there," replied the Nigerian. "You said you went to college, but not in America! Don't those people get other jobs?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, they can, but some don't get as much luck as they really should," I replied. "I am here partly for that reason. And as well, because I was curious about the prawns..."

Abejide simply shrugged. "I dunno, man," he said. "I just don't get why you'd come here when you can do other things."

I glanced to the side briefly before shrugging. "You'll find out in due time, my friend," I replied softly. "For now, think of it this way; some people are quite curious as to what would happen if they went face to face with the unknown."

Raising an eyebrow, he shrugged before going back to stand by James again. And I was quite certain that the Nigerian would leave me alone afterwards.

* * *

That afternoon, though, Abejide proved me wrong by coming over to me after using James' computer for a brief period. We were both sitting in our tents, and I had just eaten when he came over to me.

"Hey, Curtis, can I ask ya something?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, nodding. "What's up?"

"Well..." he said. "I don't know what to make of your... 'curious'... or whatever. I'm not sure you're right."

"How come?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Well, when you got you family somewhere..." he began, gesturing with his hands. "Don't you miss each other sometimes?"

I looked at him, and shrugged. "Well, when you went to college in America for two years, I can honestly tell you that the parents get used to it," I replied in a three-quarters truth. "As for me, I get very used to it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, don't you think that such things like this aren't... good for being away from your family?" he asked.

I shook my head then, chuckling slightly. "Well, let me put it this way," I said. "If this curiosity eats away at you, then what do you do? I could not fight the temptation. And so... here I am, looking at them."

Abejide looked at me oddly, standing up and shrugging. "I still don't get why you here," he said. "What is it about this 'curious' that makes you come down here? Why you want to come here?"

It hit me then; Abejide's accent was strong enough to imply that English was not his first language. "Oh, uh..." I said. "Well, you see, I just wanted to see these things very close. I wanted to come over and see them with my own two eyes. And... there's a feeling I got when I first came here that overpowered me eventually. And I felt good."

The man nodded. "I see..." he said. "But I don't entirely understand how it happened..."

I nodded. "Well, in American universities, there's something called 'studying abroad'," I explained then. "And what it does, is it lets us study in a place outside of the city where we're studying. You follow?"

"Of course," replied Abejide, nodding.

"Good," I said. "So... I spent half a year in Johannesburg. It was a little under a year ago when I went, actually. And that's how I came to know them..."

My fellow guard nodded, realizing my point. "I see... I had that kind of curious too..." he admitted. "But my family is in Soweto. So I don't understand why you come from Scotland to here."

Thinking about it harder, I nodded. "Point taken," I said. "But when you think about it, people do things for the strangest reason..."

My companion nodded as he shrugged. "Yah, man," he said.

"And as well, there is a tale of a man who spent ten years away from home fighting a war and ten years trying to get home after he offended a god," I added, raising a finger. "A job in South Africa is not too bad in comparison, yes?"

Abejide laughed softly as he looked at me. "I hear ya," he said.

And with this, he dropped the subject. He turned back to James' computer, and then he left me alone with the question.

* * *

That night, Marius covered for me again as I journeyed into the district to Caroline's tent. Upon arriving there that night, I saw that Harold was not occupying his usual space in the tent. For that matter, neither were Jamecyn or David.

Before I could ponder on much, however, Edward greeted me in the same detached way he always greeted me.

"_Good evening,_" he said as I noticed Mark patting Matthew's head lightly as he tucked him in to bed.

"Good evening, Edward," I said, going into the tent. "Where are David, Jamecyn, and Harold?"

"_Out,_" replied Mark softly.

"At this hour?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. My question had levity; it was past the curfew, and anybody caught outside would be shot. I shouldn't have cared so much, but I was a possible target in this, so I knew that to walk out at this time was especially dangerous. "How come?"

"_A friend of Harold's had a small problem..._" replied the father softly as he looked down on his son. "_So they're with him now, helping him do something._"

I detected the faintest hint of a lie in what he said, but I did not address it as I was sure it was something trivial or overly personal. I turned instead to Matthew, who seemed very tired.

"_Story man!_" exclaimed Matthew tiredly.

"Hey, Matthew," I said, smiling softly as I edged closer to him. "How are you?"

"_Tired..._" he replied. "_But I'm not going to bed until I hear a story._"

I raised an eyebrow before turning to Caroline. This was quite strange to me. Usually she told the stories that Matthew went to sleep on, the clicks and warbles all sounding rather odd in the nigh as a way of making someone fall asleep. But she was sitting with Edward that night, and that more than anything else threw me off.

"Didn't you tell him a story already?" I asked her, gesturing to Matthew.

Caroline shook her head softly. "_He wanted to hear something different_," she replied. "_Ever since you said you had your own stories that you tell on Wednesday, he's been waiting to hear them. All he's been talking about lately is how you're going to tell him a story and that it will be a great moment in his life._"

I blinked, just a little nervous at what this meant. "You mean... he wants me to tell a story?" I asked.

"_You collect them,_" replied Edward. "_We all figured you would know a few. Is there a problem?_"

"No, actually," I replied. "It's just, this is a little wierd to me, you understand?"

Heads nodded all around me, and then I knew that I would have to tell Matthew a story before the end of the night. I nodded then, a tale instantly coming to my mind as I turned to Matthew.

"All right then," I said, smiling to the young poleepkwa. "So you want to hear one of my stories?"

Matthew was too tired to say anything, but when his expression lit up I knew he was excited. I nodded, smiling as I looked down at him."

"All right," I said, breathing in and relaxing a little. "In the beginning, there was an empty darkness..."

And so I proceeded to tell little Matthew the Greek creation myth, from when Nyx laid the golden egg that became the earth to when Pandora let hope out of the box that Zeus had given her the night after she had released all of the plagues upon the world. It was a story better left for later, but since I had the feeling that I would be telling him many tales, I decided I should start with the creation and then branch out into the Greek gods and their back stories and then on to the Greek heroes that had become so loved by everybody. As I told the tale, I made lofty gestures with my hands that he did not seem to pay attention to. And as I brought the tale to its conclusion, the poleepkwa slowly fell asleep, and a small silence took a hold of the air.

I made no attempt to move as Matthew began to breathe slowly, sleep having already over him as he had a peaceful look on his face.

Mark broke the silence first. "_Is that really how your world was created?_" he asked.

I shook my head. "It would be amazing, but unfortunately, no," I replied. "We have many, many different tales of how the world was created, believe me. I'm going with one culture of stories for now, though."

The group of three nodded. "_If you don't mind me asking, what constitutes a culture?_" asked Edward.

"Well..." I began, pondering how best to explain it to them when a thought came to mind. I had been told by MNU sources that there were several distinct kinds of poleepkwa, all of which inhabited different parts of their home world. I at first was perplexed as to why they would seem to care about that little detail, but when I saw that they had diverse plate colors and that some people acted a little more differently from others, I suddenly realized that they had a point.

And indeed, Caroline had confirmed this, but that she would tell me their own creation story on their own time. This ended up being within the first week that we saw each other. (I would write it again, but I have published it in a prior collection.)

Thinking of this, I nodded. "You know how there are Wavers and Rocklanders within your population?" I asked. Upon seeing them nod, I smiled. "Well, 'cultures' are something very similar to that. See, the world used to be separated into several groups, and from those groups arose distinct cultures all over the world. It's from each one that we get various stories."

"_Oh,_" said Caroline, nodding. "_So the culture you're talking about now...?_"

"They would be called the Greeks," I replied. "There are also the Norse, Japanese, Bantu, Native American, Indian, and Aborigine cultures. Today there are thousands, but those are the basic ones."

"_Most interesting..._" replied Edward at length. "_But isn't that a bit much for one world?_"

"Well, the thing is, for the first thousand years of our civilizations, there were no communications between cultures," I replied. "So they developed their own tracks, and their stories are radically different from each other."

"_It's kind of hard to believe there are so many..._" replied Mark, rubbing a claw against his mouthparts as he thought about it.

"I guess..." I said. "But don't you have your own cultural divisions?"

"_Partly,_" replied Caroline. "_But the only real difference before we were forced to leave our home planet between us was that sometimes we had different ways of doing things. We all have similar stories, just slight modifications of it depending on who tells the tale. Some tales are completely their own, but the many tales that are similar..._"

I nodded, thinking about how there were a few versions of what happened to Helen before the Trojan war. "But this was over your whole home world?"

The poleepkwa nodded, antennae twitching about nervously.

"I see..." I said, pulling my audio recording device out. "So I guess a story is in order?"

"_If you're ready,_" she told me simply. "_If you don't mind, this one's very long, and I don't think I can finish it in one night._"

I shrugged. "Well, if that's the case, you don't have to tell it all tonight," I replied. "The storyteller Scheherazade didn't do that when she told her husband all 1001 of her tales."

"_Who?_" asked Edward, eye ridges forming an expression of confusion on his face.

"Her name is Sheherezade," I said. "If I'm around here long enough, I will definitely tell."

"_Well, if you decide it's all right to break it up..._" she said, nodding. "_Whenever you're ready._"

I nodded, and hit record twice on my audio recording device before nodding to her.

It was then that she began her tale.

* * *

**Once, long ago, there was the great one Balgernon of Hravendia*. The great one had a relatively normal life as far as anybody was concerned. Balgernon was blessed by good fortune, the great one's family was supportive, and all in the village were familiar with his face in a friendly manner.**

**Balgernon was always far too curious for the safety of the self, however. The great one always went on its own way, and it never stopped asking questions at all during its youth. Balgernon did indeed have enough curiosity to anger some of the people around the great one, but at the end of the day, Balgernon was capable of knowing when enough was enough.**

**And so, the great one's youth passed without very much activity occurring in its life. Balgernon's life was in order. The great one was soon to acquire a mate, the entire colony was accepting its choice, and all other things were falling into place in its life.**

**Unfortunately for Balgernon, destiny had many plans contrary to what he thought would be best for him.**

**The great one's fate changed when a group of four vagabonds came into the colony. They came during the day, softly and quietly as if almost to not be noisy. They probably would not have been noticed if not for the fact that they were Rocklanders. They moved quietly, going softly through the town and staying in a local villager's hut without so much as a sound.**

**That night, Balgernon's curiosity had gotten the better of it. So in the night, the great one went to the vagabonds, whom were still awake somehow. Balgernon watched in trepidation, creeping amongst the huts as it got closer to the site where they were staying.**

**There, as Balgernon creeped in, he found their hosts dead on the ground, the four ruffians sitting by their remains and laughing heartily about what Balgernon interpreted as a kill. So frightened was the great one that it stayed by the house, praying it would not be seen by the ruffians. After hearing them discuss the death of their hosts for a great amount of time, the great one moved to leave. Unfortunately, it made too much noise, and so all was silent in the air for a few seconds.**

**Without pausing to think, Balgernon then went running through the village, screaming out in long, drawn out warbles that one of the colonists was dead. The ruffians heard this, and with a start, they rushed out, chasing after the curious one. Bolting out of the village in panic, Balgernon had not seen the rest of the colony come out to the great one's aid. And before Balgernon knew what it was doing, it was far, far away from the village and into the surrounding forests of Hravendia. So frightened was Balgernon that it spent the remainder of the night there, looking up to the moons for comfort.**

**When the great one returned to the colony the next morning, however, it found nothing but tragedy awaiting it. For over the course of the night, the colonists had turned on the ruffians. Unfortunately, the ruffians were more cunning than the colonists, and so the four of them razed the village with fire, some of it still burning away at some huts. The great one's ordinary life was destroyed, and this was a realization it came to quickly as it stumbled back into its home.**

**Its family had been murdered. Its mate had been crucified by burning planks. The colony was utterly destroyed. Its friends were dead.**

**In its sorrow, Balgernon could do naught but stare in horror. In its anguish, it could not form a single word.**

**And in its guilt, the great one nearly collapsed from shock.**

**So the next day, Balgernon set out from his birthplace to lands far away. The great one travelled not for revenge, but for pennance.**

* * *

"_And I'll have to continue it tomorrow night_."

Here, Caroline broke the flow of the story, ending on just the right note. I nodded sadly at this.

"A quest for redemption..." I said to myself softly. "Sounds an awful lot like the tale of Heracles."

Caroline blinked at me, sapphire eyes a little surprised. "_What is that?_"

"Heracles?" I asked. "He is a hero of the Greek culture. I will get to him soon with Matthew, don't worry. But he had a similar thing occur to him where he was driven into a rage and killed his wife and children and then wondered around as penance. He slew a great many monsters while he was repenting, as well..."

Caroline nodded. "_No such luck with Balgernon_," she replied softly. "_He encountered people all around him that affected him deeply on his quest for redemption._"

"I see..." I said, nodding. "I wonder... does he help them?"

"_You shall see_," replied the poleepkwa. "_For now, you should get back before anybody who isn't your friend notices._"

I nodded, looking over to Mark and Edward. Mark had fallen asleep by his son, while Edward continued looking at me stoically. "Good night," I said to him softly.

Edward simply bowed his head. "_And to you as well_," he replied.

And with this, I stepped out of the tent, weaving around the spotlights slowly as they scoured the landscape for something to highlight for the guards to shoot.

* * *

Here I must confirm that we have a very long tale, and that this is the only tale I've collected that's been published in an earlier edition. This is a heavily condensed version, however, and unlike the epic in full that got its own book, we must work with a condensed version. The tale of Balgernon has become synonymous with the poleepkwa's plight to many; the lone one's quest for redemption, and the people that they meet on the way has become something of a summary of the poleepkwa's time here.

However, I place the tale of Balgernon here for more reasons than just that it's chronologically correct. For I think the characters of Balgernon's tale can relate to the many people around me at the time. And so, we have a series of character studies of the people that I met in that small camp away from Johannesburg through the characters that Balgernon met on his journeys.


	8. The Bandits

All right, so now we start to get character studies. This is one part where things get pretty interesting, actually, as the first major 'incident' occurs here. What's an 'incident'?

You shall see in due time.

For now, though, let's go on and continue the tale of Balgernon.

* * *

The Bandits

When I woke up from my nap for my day shift the next day, I opened my eyes to find Hendrik standing over me. Batting my eyes open, I sat up, a little confused as to why he was standing.

"Good morning, Hendrik. May I help you?" I asked as politely as I could what with having been woken up from a rather fulfilling sleep.

"Yes," replied Hendrik, a sting in his voice that was never there before. "Yes you can help me. You can begin by explaining what you told Tania during weekend leave."

I sat up abruptly, frowning at this as I looked at him. The first thoughts that came to mind were a great multitude of questions that I almost immediately asked."

"Why would you be interested in something like that?" I asked. "Furthermore, how the bloody hell do you know that I'm staying at Tania van der Merwe's home?"

The Cape Town native simply looked down at me and shrugged. "Orders from higher up," he replied. "Piet Smit wishes to know how well you are getting along with Tania."

I frowned then, standing up and putting my armor on. "Huh," I said, attempting to mask that I was greatly perturbed about what I was just told. "Well, we are getting along nicely, if that is what you want to know. But if you wouldn't mind, ask your superiors to tell Piet to contact me directly the next time he wants to ask that question."

Hendrik raised an eyebrow. "Well, when you think about how there is no fookin' phone here, I--"

"I know about the telephone problem," I replied sternly as I turned to face him briefly. "And frankly, I could care less about the damn thing right now. I want Piet to contact me directly if he has any more questions about my relationship with Tania. For now tell him that we are getting along reasonably well and that he will be lucky if he gets an answer the next time he uses his underlings to ask me that."

Hendrik simply looked at me blankly before exiting slowly. I was able to feel some kind of stare on the back of my neck as he left, and when I finally felt it begin to annoy me, I turned and he had disappeared past the tent flap.

I shook my head, feeling as if I was in a bad mood. I would have liked for Piet to approach me himself with how I was doing with Tania. The fact that he did not was telling me that there was more to the story than what he was choosing to reveal to me. I shook my head and left to go get something to eat before my day shift began.

* * *

From there, as I would quickly find out, the troubles that I would encounter in District 10 were only just beginning.

I was on my daytime guard duty when Abejide, James, and I suddenly heard gunshots go off from a position relatively close to where we were. The gunshots rang out clear in the otherwise still day, and it interrupted some train of thought I had been having about Caroline.

We looked to our left, and we suddenly noticed that Hendrik was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the rest of his troop, which I realized a little too late also hosted Dawid. Raising an eyebrow, I was about to comment when an expletive was suddenly flung incredibly loudly so that I could hear it.

"Dude, what's going on?" asked James suddenly.

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said. "But whatever it is, I think it's worth checking out. Come on!"

And with this, Abejide, James, and I began running into the tents, following the location of the sounds that I had heard. We had barely moved in there for ten minutes when I suddenly saw Hendrik and Dawid running around the tents quickly and obtrusively. The two of them were running around, Dawid nursing his arm. Seeing this, I gestured to Abejide and James, and we crossed two rows of tents before coming to the help of the two Cape Town natives.

"What happened?" I asked quickly.

"Fookin' things got away!" replied Dawid. "And one of those fookin' prawns broke my fookin' arm!"

James raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked. "Why?"

Hendrik shook his head. "We were chasin' some of those fookers," he said.

At this, I stepped back, slightly repelled by this. "You were chasing some of these things?" I asked. "Why? They haven't done much to you!"

"On the contrary, these people did everything," replied Hendrik off-key. "They put themselves in a place we didn't want them to come to. We didn't want these things here!"

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head. "Uh, I think you forget they didn't exactly have much of a choice on the matter," I said.

Hendrik shook his head then, but before he could speak Dawid piped up. "Maybe he doesn't know about that one?"

When I heard about this, Abejide and James looked at me as I jumped up. "What one?"

All eyes fell on me stupidly. "What, man, ya mean ya don't know about that one?" asked Abejide.

"Perhaps?" I asked.

James shook his head. "That one," said the American. "He was mentioned during the first briefing."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, that explains that bit," I said. "I was so exhausted from my flight from Glasgow that I was barely able to pay attention then..."

"Then you might wanna pay attention now," said Hendrik. "There's this one prawn that's extremely dangerous. He's got a bandage around one of his arms, and that arm is missing a thumb, and he's got very light yellow eyes. They say he's a threat to us all, and they want us to capture him alive."

I nodded, wondering what they could have been talking about. "All right," I said. "If we know what this thing looks like, why is it still free?"

"They did have him at one point," replied Hendrik. "But he got away, and now he's been hiding out in the district ever since. Worst part is, we only get momentary glimpses before we go back in..."

I glanced to the side. "How dangerous?" I asked.

"Very dangerous," replied Dawid, shrugging. "Supposedly, he was one of the ones involved in what occurred in District 9 last summer."

_Winter_, I corrected in my mind, more for personal reference than anything else what with not having completely adjusted to the different seasonal cycle of the Southern Hemisphere. I nodded slowly, thinking about this information.

"I see..." I said, genuinely believing them at the time. "I'll keep an eye out for him, then..."

"B... Wha--?" asked Abejide.

"This one seems like a danger," I replied, nodding as I turned to return to my post. "Come on. We need to get back to where we were guarding."

And with this, Abejide glanced at me confusedly before he simply followed me and James back to our spot.

* * *

When I had gone to night shift with Marius that evening, I found myself beginning to think about Hendrik's story a little more. Thinking about it, I turned to my fellow guard.

"Say, Marius," I said. "I heard from Hendrik today that there's someone out there that's a threat?"

"Yeah," he replied. "MNU briefing said there was a huge threat. Why?"

I shrugged, thinking about it. "Well, I was tired from my flight from Glasgow during that briefing, so I missed a few details," I said. "What, exactly, was it that was so dangerous about him other than being involved in the events that occurred last... I want to say winter, but I know that's not correct..."

Marius glanced at me, a strange look on his face. "You know, Curtis, that's a damn good question," he replied. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't know either."

"Really?" I asked. "Why?"

"I couldn't find anything else about this guy within the archives," he replied. "They keep tabs on all their most wanted, yet for some reason that one with the bandage is never mentioned."

"And you checked this?" I asked.

"A lot," he replied. "And I get absolutely nothing on this guy each time I do."

I shrugged, thinking about something else. "Do you know his name?" I asked.

He shook his head, and we both paused. "That's the funny thing," he said. "Whenever I ask the higher ups about his name, they never open their mouths. It's like this guy is unspeakable... Like someone's lying about something and they don't want to get punished about it..."

"...Dionysus can probably sympathise with this one then," I said, a smirk coming to my face as I crossed my arms in front of me. "Maybe the hulaballoo surrounding him is a lie..."

The Afrikaaner nodded, the two of us resuming our walk to our stations slowly. "I wouldn't put it above anbody," he said slowly. "But we never know. One thing we do know, though, is that Hendrik and Dawid both really bit into it."

"I can tell," I replied, shaking my head. "Those two were talking about it as if they were bards singing about great heroes..."

Marius shrugged, glancing to the side as he leaned in close to me. "Well, you know how those Cape Town types are..." he said.

I raised an eyebrow, unsure of what he meant by this at the time. "I don't quite catch your meaning," I said.

My friend shook his head. "The Cape Town types are typically the most racist against something," he said. "There's the whole District 6 bit that came about during the African apartheid. And of course, they were the ones campaigning for the District 10 camp to be set up most of all. For some reason."

I shook my head. "Some people," I stated. "And Hendrik and Dawid are part of this?"

"Oh yes," replied Marius. "They are both very much racist against these things to the point that I wouldn't put it past them to do chase prawns around."

I nodded, feeling a little dirty. "I don't know, Marius, I'm not sure we should use that term," I said nervously. "It... It makes me feel a little uncomfortable referring to them like that."

"After you've been hanging out with some of them in that tent for a while, I can't say I blame you," said Marius, looking at me with an understanding expression on his face as we took our posts at the fence. "Maybe there's another term they use to refer to themselves?"

This realization suddenly dawned on me. Up until that night, I had referred to poleepkwans as 'prawns', more out of a lack of knowing what else to call them than out of any form of spite. However, after having gotten to know Caroline and her tentmates a little better, I had begun to feel extremely uncomfortable referring to them as 'prawns', and would sometimes go to great lengths to not have to use the term. Of course, now that I know a term they would like to use, I feel ridiculous, but back when I was still in the district it was a very real dilemma.

"I'll have to see about that," I replied. "But we're getting off track with Hendrik and Dawid."

"Yeah, they are very much that kind," said Marius, nodding. "We'll have to hope it doesn't get out of hand."

I nodded, not knowing some of the outlandish activity that was to come from them. From there, we kept our stances at our posts.

* * *

After waiting an hour or so, I made my way to Caroline's tent. However, when I arrived there, I was quite surprised by what was awaiting me.

Sitting on Jamecyn and David's cloths that they called a bed, there was a poleepkwa sitting with red spikes. Jamecyn sat on Mark and Harold's side of the room for once, David helping Mark with the stranger who was laying there in obvious pain. When I entered, my eyes widened, and the stranger looked at me with pale grey eyes that spoke of great pain.

"What happened?" I asked instantly, kneeling by the poleepkwan's side.

"_Fucking racists tried to kill him,_" replied Jamecyn distastefully. "_He wasn't even their target..._"

I blinked uncertainly. "Is this about that one with the bandage around his arm?" I asked. "The one that is missing a finger?"

"_Who, him?_" asked Harold from where he sat next to Matthew. "_Yes, it is..._"

"_Oh, don't go saying bad things about Wilbur,_" replied the injured poleepkwa as he laid there. He was in obvious pain from what it looked like, so I took up residence close to him. "_He isn't a bad person... MNU just hates him..._"

I nodded my head. "We're all told that he's extremely dangeous," I said. "I'm Curtis, by the way. You are...?"

"_Jonathan Strauss_," replied the injured one. "_You're not like...?_"

"_No, he isn't,_" replied Mark as he wrapped bandages around.

"I'm not as racist as everybody else here, that is for sure," I said, shrugging. "You'll have to forgive Hendrik, though; from what I hear, he's very racist..."

"_I don't forgive any fuckin' racists, you hear?_" asked Jamecyn from behind me.

"_Peace, Jamecyn_," clicked Edward. "_You know as well as I do that Curtis doesn't mean any harm to us..._"

"_But... those guys... those gunshots..._," began the injured stranger.

I nodded, scooting closer to the bedspreads on which Jonathan was laid out. "I promise you, I'm not into anything like that," I stated again. "If anything, I would say it actually makes me kind of... well, squeamish..."

Jonathan seemed to nod at me, but when I saw that Mark and David were wrapping a cloth on his shoulder, I knew he could not move his head much. "_How can I be so sure of that?_" he asked.

I bit my lower lip, knowing the kind of trepidation he must have been going through. "I probably would have killed everybody in this tent by now," I said. "Think of it that way."

It was then that David moved back slightly. "_There_," he said. "_That should do it._"

"If you don't mind me asking, where do you find those bandages?" I asked. "I mean, you don't get any medical supplies, so--"

"_Oh, Wilbur actually came by earlier today,_" replied Caroline, speaking softly. "_He heard that Jonathan was here, so he came with bandages he had found somewhere. How he got them is anybody's guess..._"

At this, I raised an eyebrow. I crossed my arms in front of me, looking all around me. "Well, if this 'Wilbur' is supposed to be dangerous, then why are you speaking well of him?"

"_Because he's actually not a bad person_," replied Edward solemnly. "_His past is extremely questionable, though._"

I was quite puzzled by this development. I was very confused about why MNU would want a poleepkwan that apparently posed no truly tangible threat to anybody in the camp. It would not be until much later that I would find out how everything came together, and even now I give myself great anguish for not realizing it earlier. Right then, I nodded, seeing Edward's point and deciding to drop the subject then and there.

"I see..." I replied. "So why would MNU want him above all others?"

Caroline blinked at me, her antennae lowering. "_I wish I knew,_" she chirped. "_I just hope Jonathan doesn't get caught in the middle again..._"

"Well, with enough rest, you should be all right," I said, turning o Jonathan. "Stay with these guys and I'll guarantee you nothing really bad will happen."

With this, I turned, and I scooted closer to Matthew as Harold scooted over to make room for me. "Hey there, little guy."

"_Story man!_" he clicked happily. "_You have a story?_"

I nodded. "You better believe I do!" I said, smiling broadly. "Now, I guess I should leave off where I left off, eh...?"

And with this, I decided it would be a good idea to tell the various stories about the gods and what they did. As I told my story, I was able to feel Jonathan's uncomfortable stare at the back of my head, and this did little to help my mood. I never stumbled when I told my story, however, and so I went on to tell about the gods. Zeus and Hera and their constant bickering, the birth of Aphrodite and Athena, the function of Apollo, and the sturdy rule of Hades, king of the underworld. I of course had to cut many things short given that I only had time to tell him a few things before he fell asleep, but I was able to touch on all of the gods who ruled over Olympus, and as I was describing it he fell asleep slowly.

I turned to Caroline, then, feeling Jonathan boring holes into my skull with his stare. I said nothing about it then, though as we all readjusted in the tent.

"_Jonathan's likely going to stay here for a few days,_" said David, stuttering on some of his clicks.

I raised an eyebrow at this. "He's that badly banged up?" I asked.

"_You should've seen him when he first came in here,_" replied Mark. "_He was doing horribly..._"

"_It's a good thing David's a medic,_" added Jamecyn from behind me as she slowly got off of Matthew's bed, taking care not to rouse the little one from his sleep. "_It's always a very useful asset to have in this place._"

I blinked, wondering what the implications of what was said could have on the district. "Oh dear..." I said. "There are sick ones everywhere, aren't there?"

All of the poleepkwans in the tent that were still awake looked at each other before nodding in reply. "_It's awful..._" said Caroline. "_One of these days you'll have to see it for yourself._"

"Preferably soon," I said, rubbing the back of my head as I glanced all around the tent. "I don't think I can imagine how bad it must be..."

"_It's because those fucking racists keep doing this to us!_" cried Jamecyn angrily.

"_Jamecyn, relax_," said Edward at length.

I frowned slightly, crossing my arms in front of me as I thought about what it might be like and failing to conjure an image in my mind. "I can't think of what it would look like."

"_Then we'll get you soon,_" said Edward. "_Worry not, we'll devise a signal and tell you about it the next time you come in._"

"_For now, though, I believe I have to continue the tale of Balgernon where it left off,_" said Caroline.

Grabbing my audio recording device out of my armor, I nodded. "I believe so too," I said, turning the device on quickly and hitting record twice. "You may continue the story."

* * *

**As the great one moved along, it found the landscape around him change slowly from that of the forresty wetlands of the great one's home to a vast expanse of desert. Sand was seen flying everywhere, the wind quite strong. Balgernon paid it no mind, its mind set on its grief.**

**As he advanced along, the great one suddenly noticed a band of other ones a distance away from it. They were more imposing than the great one was, and in contrast to its bluer plating, these ones had yellow streaks boldly displayed on their exoskeletons.**

**Balgernon simply walked on, quite surprised when the strange ones stopped. In its surprise, Balgernon stopped as well.**

**One seemingly predominant one, missing an antennae, stepped forward. "Well... what a surprise. A visitor from the waterlands..."**

**"I beseech you, good one," replied Balgernon almost instantly. "I do not want any trouble. I am just passing through."**

**The bold one gave the great one a small look over, smirking confidently at it quite readily. "Passing through, eh?" it asked, a menacing tone in its clicks. "As far as I know, waterlanders only come around here as merchants..."**

**Balgernon was shaking, realizing exactly what it was dealing with as it looked nervously to the one that was intimidating. "I have very little of importance," replied the great one, bringing its hands together in a very frightened gesture.**

**"Then what about the amulet you have around you?" asked the bandit tauntingly as its drones began to surround Balgernon.**

**The great one looked around it nervously, seeing all of them. Clutching the pendant, it shook its head. "Please, I want no trouble," replied Balgernon. "I am just passing through..."**

**The aggressive one shook its head. "You have trouble already," it replied. "Uncommon are you, that we must have your treasure."**

**"Wait! I--!"**

**But they were deaf to the great one's pleas, for then the bandits jumped onto Balgernon. A fight ensued, during which Balgernon held on to the pendant. Tears of sadness went unnoticed by the brigands as they abused the unfortunate one, and there seemed to be no end to it. Balgernon found no voice for which to cry out, get anybody's attention.**

**And finally, when all hope seemed lost, Balgernon's suffering came to a peak.**

**"Please, spare me!" the great one cried out. "My amulet is important to me! It is all I have left to remember my family by! Please! End this!"**

**At first, nobody heeded his cry. But when the bandits were suddenly still, Balgernon was dumbfounded. At this, they disbanded, the vehement one coming forward, a sour look on its face.**

**"What was that?" asked the bandit king. "A memento?"**

**"Yes, oh reverent one," replied Balgernon. "But... it has the power to imbue any object with good luck. At least, that is what the legends tell. Please, I will be more than willing to give you a piece of luck if it means I can keep this pendant.**

**The aggressive one looked down on the pitiful one, pondering briefly. Finally, the aggressive one took out a piece of greld*, holding it in front of Balgernon.**

**"Then bless this piece of silver for me," it said, the clicks less aggressive than before. "A memento of my own family..."**

**Instantly, Balgernon clasped the silver coin, and brought it to the amulet, shining blue iridescent light as it came close to the coin. After a few seconds, a strange, ethereal glow surrounded the coin, and the great one handed it back to the aggressive one. Smiling, it stood up, helping the helpless one up onto its feet.**

**"Go," it commanded. "I shall spare your life, for no gift is greater than the gift of good luck."**

**Balgernon was so grateful it had few words to say in reply to the bandit king's act of kindness. And so, he hobbled along after dropping a quick thank you. Unfortunately, the great one had been battered so badly that it was barely able to go for a long enough distance to lose sight of the bandits before it collapsed, sweet unconsciousness taking Balgernon under its wing.**

* * *

"_And that's a good place to stop._"

I nodded, stopping the recording device as I looked around me in the tent. Jonathan was still looking at me with a rather skeptical look on his eyes, the stare making me uncomfortable as I finally turned around to face him.

"May I help you, Jonathan?" I asked, making it clear I was not pleased with his constant staring.

"_Uh... no..._" he said simply.

I nodded crossly. "Then I would greatly appreciate it if you could please stop staring at me," I said bluntly. "You're making me slightly uncomfortable."

At this, Jonathan turned around suddenly, looking at the wall of the tent around him.

"Thank you," I said simply, crossing my arms in front of me.

Caroline looked at me with eye ridges raised. "_You didn't need to be so harsh..._" she said.

I sighed, turning to face the one that had told me the stories. "I know," I replied. "But... I find it annoying when people won't stop staring at me. It makes me very uncomfortable..."

The poleepkwan nodded. "_I understand_," she said simply."_Still, try to show a little more reservation towards Jonathan in the future."_

"I'll try," I said simply. "I can't guarantee anything, though."

She nodded at me, everybody else having fallen asleep during Caroline's story. "_Is there anything else you wanted to know about?_"

"Not at the moment, no," I replied simply, moving slowly out of the tent. "Good night, Caroline."

"_Same to you, Curtis_," replied the storyteller simply.

And thus I made my way out of the tent yet again into the night, dodging searchlights as I returned to my post.


	9. The Kind One

So, last time... We recieved two introductions. The first is Jonathan Strauss, the last poleepkwa OC that's owned by me. Any other poleepkwa OC's that appear from this point onward do not belong to me. I'll tell you who they belong to as we go along.

And as for Wilbur, who was only mentioned? Oh, boy. If you saw the movie, I think you should know who this one is. Keep an eye out, because he'll actually figure into events quite a bit.

All right, so we go on with the quest of Balgernon.

And here is where we start bringing Curtis in during the day. Hey, it'll help the plot threads a little if Curtis knows how the poleepkwan characters interact by day. So thus, we'll be seeing Curtis enter the district under percieved troubles.

Or something. Sometimes, the danger is very real.

Oh, and something I thought I might say since I haven't been getting reviews lately. If you guys have anything at all you want to say, don't be afraid to say it! I always look forward to detailed feedback from my readers!

But we'll see soon enough. Away chapter!

* * *

The Kind One

The next day, I would be called into the district by something else.

For within the line of tents in my sight during my day shift, I noticed a small gathering of poleepkwas all around one person. Abejide was the first one to point it out to me, and I looked in there and noticed the gathering.

"Maybe they plan on tryin' to overtake us?" asked the Nigerian.

James shook his head. "They'll need much more than that if they want to get all of us," he said. "And I'm sure they know that just as well as we do."

"I'm going in," I said, walking before James or Abejide could say anything.

James simply followed me in there as I moved over to the poleepkwan crowd. I think Dawid and Hendrik failed to notice us, and it was thankful that they had not, for when I dispersed the crowd quite a sight awaited me-- one that was both gruesome and quite unnerving.

To the side, an unidentified poleepkwan had been cut basically to pieces, black blood having collected around the body in a pool. The poor thing had been cut up so badly I was barely able to see who it was. To the side, I saw Caroline attempting to comfort a bloody poleepkwan that I did not recognize. She had on a bright purple dress with white floral patterns on it, with what could only be equated to a flowery necklace around her neck. She clutched a bloody machete in her claws as she sat on the ground, but from the look of the situation she was more terrified than she was manic.

Seeing this, I came closer to Caroline.

"What happened?" I asked.

Almost immediately, the strange poleepkwa trembled where it was, backing away from me slowly.

"_Please, no! I didn't mean to!_" it cried out. I thought I saw what could be equated to tears flowing out of its eyes and washing away some of the scarlet that had gotten itself all over her cinnamon plating. "_I didn't mean to!_"

"_It was self defense_," chimed in Caroline almost immediately. "_The one that was killed threatened it with being raped..._"

I blinked, looking at the remains of the poleepkwa before turning back to her. "That was caused by an act of self-defense?" I asked incredulously.

And before I knew it, chaos erupted all around me as all of the poleepkwans in the crowd began chiming in with so may words I was unable to say much. I looked around me, a cacophonous symphony of clicks and chirps sounding all around me. James looked concerned from where he was standing behind the crowd, but my attention was quickly absorbed by the sight of the frightened figure. It was so terrified that it had ceased to move, clutching its machete with an iron grip.

Looking around and failing to make sense of what was going on, I shook my head. Raising my gun, I began slamming it by the butt on a nearby tentpole to create enough noise to silence the crowd.

"Shut up!" I cried out as I did this. "Shut the hell up!"

Finally, I was able to get some semblance of calm in the area, and I faced the one who was terrified. Walking over as more people joined the crowd while giving me angry stares, I knelt down.

"Take a few deep breaths, and tell me what happened," I said.

"_It's... I'm sorry..._" the stranger said without taking a few breaths to calm her down. "_He was gonna rape me... And he was gonna hit me... and... and..."_

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I won't hurt you. I just need your machete, all right?"

"_But... But..._" said the scared one.

"I promise on the River Styx that I won't hurt you," I said, holding a hand up after holstering my gun around my shoulder. "Just give me the machete and we won't have any problems."

Instead of giving it to me, the poleepkwan dropped it on the ground, the thing falling down. She looked into my eyes with a terrified expression on her face, mouthparts frigid as she looked at me.

Nodding, I took a hold of the handle of the machete and examined it briefly. I quickly put it in my belt shortly afterwards, and then I turned to the mangled body. Caroline looked at me imploringly, seeming to sense what I was about to do.

"Sorry, Caroline, but I don't really have a choice," I said, grabbing my gun and pointing at the mangled creature's head.

I shot the dead poleepkwa shortly after I said this. With this, some of the crowd dispersed, except for Caroline, who looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. I noticed the one who had done the real killing run away with everybody else, disappearing into the tents quickly.

As soon as James was able to look at me with a shocked expression on its face, Hendrik, Dawid, their troop, and Abejide all came running to me. "What the fook happened?" asked Hendrik.

I pointed to the dead poleepkwan on the ground. "Bloody thing tried to kill some people!" I said, pointing at the opponent. "He started quite an event here! If it wasn't for the fact that somebody else managed to grab the machete away from him, I wouldn't have been able to overpower him!"

As I produced the machete I had confiscated, Hendrik shook his head. "Where the fook did that prawn even get the thing anyway?" he asked.

"Uh... that's a really good question, actually..." I said, rubbing the back of my head. "All I know was that even though that other thing was hacking away, it wouldn't stop thrashing around. So I finally had to put a bullet through its head to get it to stop..."

"I see..." said Dawid, pulling out his walkie-talkie as he turned it to a certain frequency. "I'll call a collection team over to get the body."

With this, Dawid walked away, radioing the base that something had happened. Nodding, I turned to Hendrik.

"And where the fook did the other thing go?" asked Hendrik.

I shook my head. "The poor thing was terrified," I replied. "It dashed off into the camp when I fired the gun..."

Abejide shrugged, patting me on the shoulder. "Well, man, at least we came in, right?" asked Abejide with a slight grin.

I faltered for a second, looking down at the dead body and thinking about the disaster I had narrowly averted before nodding. "Yep," I said.

"Okay," said James, writing all this down on a clipboard that Hendrik had handed to him a few seconds before. "So you came in at the scene where John Doe here was trying to kill people, and then... someone... What was its MNU issued name?"

"Uh..." I scratched the back of my head, realizing that I had not collected the name of the incredibly frightened one before she had just run off. "I..."

"_Eleanor._" Caroline's voice surprised me, and when I turned around I realized why Hendrik had a semi-disgusted look on his face. "_Its MNU issued name was Eleanor Rigby._"

"Okay then, Eleanor Rigby..." said James, writing it down without skipping a beat. Sifting through a list, Hendrik looked down it to see if we had a proper identification. "Hm... Sounds like someone really likes Beatles references..."

"No, there is actually an Eleanor Rigby," replied Hendrik. "Eleanor Rigby, MNU no. 945,002, to be exact."

James shrugged. "I'll bet whoever assigned her that name really liked the Beatles, then..." he said offhandedly as he wrote down the MNU number.

"Okay," said Dawid, the clean-up team right behind him as he ran back. "These guys will take care of it. Is someone writing the report?"

The American held his pen up, indicating such. Dawid nodded as the clean-up crews that had come on his trail picked up the body and put it in a body bag. I nodded to Hendrik and Dawid.

"Well, your work here is done," I said. "I'll stay here with James to fill out the report with the only witness that stayed, and we'll be back in our posts in a few minutes."

Hendrik shot me a very brief glare, but thankfully Dawid seemed not to mind. "All right then," he said. "Come on. Let's get out of here and leave them be."

And soon, everybody that was not myself, James, or Caroline began moving back. And as soon as they were out of hearing range, James turned to me with an expression of disbelief that I swear he was holding back.

"Why the hell are you lying to them?" asked James.

I shook my head. "Look, it's the only way I could think of that wouldn't get us any other casualties other than the one that happened, okay?" I pointed out.

"_It's dirty, but I will admit that it does kind of work..._" said Caroline. "_Curtis..._"

"Don't worry, Caroline," I said as I patted my gun. "I got everything under control, didn't I? And I did manage to make sure there were no casualties apart from what we saw..."

"_That's true,_" she said, nodding her head nervously. "_But please, try not to scare me like that._"

At this, I gave her a slightly perturbed look. "I scared you?" I asked.

"_Unfortunately,_" she said.

I nodded, feeling very regretful upon hearing this. "I'm sorry," I said. "But it's one of those things that had to be done."

"_No, I understand,_" she said. "_It's all right._"

I looked at her, smiling softly. "Actually, I have to thank you for keeping the situation in check for long enough for someone else to come in and do something about it," I said.

Caroline shrugged at this. "_It's a good thing you came, actually..._" she said. "_I don't think I would've been able to keep that under control all by myself... So thank you for coming and doing what you can._"

"Anytime," I said, nodding.

I hadn't noticed that James was attempting to get my attention until he coughed rather loudly at Caroline and I. Looking up at him, I saw one of his eyebrows was arched up. He crossed his arms in front of him, holding the clipboard against his chest as he spoke.

"So this is your friend here," he said, looking at the poleepkwan. "Caroline..."

"_Masterson_," replied Caroline. "_And you are...?_"

"James Stanton," replied the American. "One of Curtis' human friends. Well, non-racist ones..."

"_A pleasure,_" said Caroline. "_You two should get back before the others suspect something._"

"That is true," I said, bowing my head politely. "I'll see you later, Caroline."

"_So long..._" said the poleepkwan.

With this, James and I made our way back to our posts, James writing a couple more notes on the report before nodding to me.

"So that's the one, eh?" asked James.

"Yes," I replied. "Please don't tell..."

James shook his head, chuckling. "Me? Tell?" he asked. "Please. I would've told 'em already if I was that malicious."

I couldn't help but chuckle as well as we returned to our posts in a considerably better mood. We rejoined Abejide in our guard, and since nothing happened throughout the rest of the day we simply conversed about unimportant things.

It would be one of the few times that I would come out of the district during the day feeling better than I did going in.

* * *

When I had gone to the night shift with Marius later that night, he looked at me.

"So I hear you killed your first... alien today," he said, checking himself with his word choice.

I nodded. "Well, sort of," I admitted. "Don't tell anybody else, but when I got there the only one that had been killed was already dead."

Marius gave me an odd look. "Now why would you lie about that?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Well, the one who really did kill it was... scared beyond her mind," I said. "The poor thing was shaking. The only reason that she was still there when I arrived at the scene was because Caroline was doing a damn good job of trying to make it comfortable. I just didn't want the others to scare her more than she already was..."

The Afrikaaner nodded as he crossed his arms. "MNU issued name?"

"Eleanor Rigby," I replied, chuckling. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if her only friend was a McKenzie."

Marius chuckled at this, smiling at me. "I take it you know the Beatles, then."

"Obviously," I replied. "I mean, they're from Great Britain, which isn't too far from Scotland, you know."

"True, true," replied the Afrikaaner. "But seriously, I'm glad Caroline stood up for her..."

I looked to around where Caroline's tent was, nodding. "Caroline is honestly quite a helpful... alien," I said, thinking about how she behaved towards me. "Quite reserved, I should think... And she always looks out for everyone. Always a good thing around here..."

At this, Marius smirked. "From the way you're talking about her now, I think you're beginning to develop feelings for her..."

I remember at first feeling very strange at the mere suggestion of such a thing, and then slightly repelled. "What? No!" I cried. "That's... What the...? That's disgusting! And even if... she's got a mate, for crying out loud! Where the bloody hell...?"

Marius simply laughed at my clumsiness, shaking his head. "It always happens like this," he said. "We'll see..."

"But..." I said. "It would be between me and an alien! And it's not a _Star Trek_ kind of alien either! Doesn't that disturb you?"

The Afrikaaner shook his head, patting me on the shoulder. "Abstinence is key, Curtis," he replied. "Don't forget that when it comes to love..."

I was so confused by what Marius had just suggested that I fidgeted uncomfortably for quite some time and said nothing at all. The whole time, he seemed to be smirking deviously at me, as if he had some thoughts he decided not to divulge.

* * *

I went over to the tent sooner than I would have liked to, if only to get away from the awkward feeling I had gotten when Marius had insinuated that I was falling for Caroline.

Back then, the prospect of falling in love with Caroline was the farthest thing from my mind. She had already gotten a mate in Edward, and I knew that it was best to stay out given that Edward really did love Caroline as much as she loved him. As well, there was the whole inter-species relationship deal that would create plenty of tension. At first, the prospect of loving a creature was actually a little repulsive to me, seeing as how they were not even creatures from our own planet.

I will admit, though, that things changed afterwards.

When I entered the tent, I saw Jamecyn glare at me.

_"So I hear you stopped something from getting out of control today_," she said bitterly.

_"Jamecyn, it's all right_," replied Caroline. _"He stopped it from getting out of control_."

"I did," I replied. "I just... I had to do some things to keep things from being too suspicious."

"_Right_," replied Jamecyn, crossing her hands in front of her. "_So your idea of keeping within society are to shoot someone else in the face after he dies?_"

I glared back at her. "Then what did you want me to do?" I asked. "Two of those people are racist, and they would have worsened things... To be honest, they probably would have killed Caroline if I hadn't intervened first..."

The poleepkwa I had referred to shuddered softly against Edward. Jamecyn's glare only intensified, however, and she seemed about ready to kill me by that point, I was certain.

"_Oh?_" she asked. "_And what, exactly, constitutes being racist? Doing your job and calling us that god-forsaken name? Because you do it too!_"

"Hey, I don't have much else to call you by other than 'alien'," I replied. "If I had some other name to call you by, I would refer to you by it, all right? So what do you want me to refer to you as?"

"_Oh, I dunno, something other than 'alien' or 'prawn'?_" she asked.

I blinked, shaking my head. "Well, did you have anything... specific in mind?" I asked.

At this, Jamecyn fell silent. The tension lifted almost instantly, as everybody realized that I had a point. Thinking about this, I turned my attention to everybody in the tent, wondering if anybody was afraid to speak up.

Finally, however, Harold coughed behind me.

"_There is one term that doesn't sound as strong as the rest..._" he said. "_I first picked it up from the Nigerians when we were still in District 9. I can't pronounce it... But I can spell it on the ground. Give me a few seconds..._"

Harold went to work on the ground, tracing a word with his fingers shakily. I watched his finger intently as it traced letters in the dirt. I had to turn on my MNU-issued flashlight to see what he was doing. He pulled his hand away a few seconds later, though, and then I saw a single word etched on the ground:

_poleepkwa_

I looked at it blankly for a few seconds, thinking about what it translated to.

"I think that translates to 'people'," I said, pointing at the word. "I forget which African language it is..."

All was silent as I nodded, rubbing my chin in thought. I smiled coyly as I thought about it.

"I like it," I said. "It has quite a... noble ring to it. 'Poleepkwa'. I'll have to use that from now on..."

"_I told you he wasn't like the rest of them,_" said Caroline to Jamecyn.

Jamecyn simply glared at everybody in the tent before turning around, laying in the makeshift bed. I shrugged, my attention turning to Matthew. He had peeked his head out, looking at me fearfully.

"Hey, it's all right," I said.

"_Auntie Jamecyn said nasty things about you..._" he said nervously. "_Did you really kill someone?_"

I blinked, shocked that he had such a grasp on life. "How... how do you understand what death is?" I asked. "You're like... twelve human years old?"

"_Poor kid has to grow up really fast in this place,_" replied Harold. "_We'll tell you the signal once you've told him a story..._"

I nodded, thinking grimly. "Well, to answer your question, no I didn't," I replied. "That person was already dead when I shot it. But anyways, I think you really want to hear a story, yes?"

Matthew nodded, looking at me with soft eyes that showed the slightest hint of fear in them. Thinking of the subject of death somehow brought me on track with Hades, and so I told him the story of Hades and Persephone. I told him also about how Demeter was in sorrow over the abduction of her daughter by a man that loved her, and the deal that Demeter struck up with Hades to be able to see her daughter again. I also remember talking about how that was the cause of the seasons to the Greeks, although I think he muttered something about how it couldn't be true as he began falling asleep. As I was wrapping up, I left in a place to make a brief mention of the many affairs of Zeus so I could have a placeholder to start with the next time I told him some stories.

When I finished, he had gone to sleep, softly breathing. Slowly, I turned to Caroline.

"Is Eleanor Rigby all right?" I asked.

"_She's fine,_" replied Mark. "_Poor thing was shaken, though..._"

"_I'll bet it has something to do with the loss of that machete of hers..._" pointed out Jamecyn distastefully.

"Well, I didn't want her harming anybody else in the district," I said. "I wonder how she got the thing anyway..."

Harold shrugged, glancing at me uncertainly. "_We know as much about that as you do,_" he said. "_How that machete got here in the first place is a question on everyone's mind that knows her..._"

I nodded, glancing around the tent uncertainly. "Right," I said. "So, Caroline, I don't think I got to thank you properly for helping me back there..."

"_It was no problem,_" she said. "_I'm just relieved that nobody's hurt._"

I smiled, looking at Caroline with kind eyes. "So am I," I replied. The truth was, I really was thankful that nobody apart from the one that had gotten killed had been hurt. And in large part, I had Caroline to thank for that for being able to calm Eleanor down long enough for me to get there. And for that I was relatively thankful.

"_I have one question, though,_" added the poleepkwan quickly. "_Who are the Beatles?_"

I chuckled nervously, scratching the back of my head. "Remind me to tell you that some other time," I said. "In the meantime, I think you should probably pick up where you left off with your story."

Caroline nodded as I took out my audio recording device. As soon as I hit the record button twice, I nodded to Caroline.

* * *

**When the great one regained consciousness, it was laying not in the sands of the desert, but on a hard bed made of stone. Slowly, it opened its eyes, looking around it.**

**Almost instantly, it found it was lacking in water. Hacking slightly, it tried to sit up but could not.**

**At this moment, a gracious one entered with a jug, carrying water slowly. Seeing that Balgernon was awake, the gracious one entered, patting the great one's forehead.**

**"I found you in the desert," said the mysterious one graciously. "You were nearly dead from lack of energy..."**

**The jug of water was brought to the mouthparts of the great one. Balgernon took this in gladly, looking to the one who was aiding it with a ghost of a smile.**

**"Thank you, kind one," replied Balgernon.**

**"Rest," said the kind one as it pressed Balgernon's head against a pillow. "Save your energy for when you need it most."**

**Balgernon nodded and sleep overtook it again.**

**The great one stayed with the kind one for almost two weeks in ill health. The kind one always saw to every need that Balgernon would have, to the point that it almost became excessive. Nevertheless, the great one was thankful for the kind one's services to attempt to make him comfortable, and whenever he had gained the energy to speak he made that apparent whenever.**

**Soon, Balgernon had begun to recover, being able to move around the kind one's small abode slowly. And what Balgernon saw there warmed his heart greatly towards the kind one. The kind one always seemed to be the one to help all over the village. From the cut-out stone in the walls of the small desert abode, the kind one was seen to be a general help to everybody it knew. Balgernon was filled with a great kind of admiration for the kind one, even if there was a hint of jealousy in it.**

**Thus, as he neared the end of the two weeks, the kind one sat by the mostly recovered Balgernon. The great one was very flustered by this small conversation with the kind one, something it made apparent as it gazed at the floor.**

**"I..." began the great one. "I don't know how to thank you for all you've done..."**

**"There is no need," replied the kind one, eyes shining brightly. "I try to help however I can."**

**"Still, you saved my life... when you could have left me out there..." replied Balgernon uncertainly. "And you made sure to attend to me no matter what happened... I..."**

**A thought then occurred to the great one, something that had barely stirred its fancy in any previous track of thought before.**

**"Do you need any help around here?" asked Balgernon. "Because I..."**

**The kind one seemed to understand what Balgernon wanted to ask of it. "You may stay as long as you like," it replied. "And you may help in whatever way you can think of."**

**At this, the great one's heart swelled in joy, and it gave the kind one a hug. As it parted from this, Balgernon realized that it had not known the name of the mysterious stranger.**

**Before it could ask, though, the kind one had answered. "Call me Ganrel," it said.**

**And with this, Balgernon nodded at his new companion, standing up as he moved around the room a little.**

**The great one thus began to meet one of his constant companions that he would encounter on his journeys.**

* * *

"_And that would be a good point to stop at._"

I nodded, stopping the recording device. I checked the display to make sure I still had battery. Seeing that I needed to replace my batteries, I made a mental note to do so once I had the chance and stowed it away in my armor. Edward was the only other person who was still awake by that point, and so I looked to him and Caroline as they both shifted slightly.

"I wonder..." I said. "Since you knew Eleanor, do you know anybody else in this district?"

"_Some more than others_," replied Edward. "_We all know different people depending on where we try to move... It also depends on what occupation you were given..._"

At this, I cocked an eyebrow. "Occupation?" I asked.

Caroline in turn raised an eye ridge. "_You mean MNU didn't tell you they used to employ our kind in mines?_" she asked.

I blinked. "No," I replied. "I mean... I knew they were hiring you guys, but... I didn't really look into it..."

The truth was that I had accidentally stumbled across that kind of information trying to navigate through the MNU website to download a job application. I saw all kinds of odd jobs for what was termed 'non-human' as I looked over the jobs. Most of the specifics were in an alphabet I didn't quite understand, but otherwise everything was a little odd. There was an option to translate everything into English, but I thought better of it for some reason. Now that I had heard about mines, however, I knew I probably should have clicked on that odd translation button.

"_We worked at labor jobs while we were still in District 9,_" replied Edward. "_Some of us still do, but not as many are lucky enough to get out of here to do so..._"

I nodded. "I'll have to check up on that again," I replied. "For now, I do believe you have a signal to tell me about, yes?"

Edward nodded. "_I do,_" he replied. "_Keep an eye out for Harold. If you see him walk between the rows of tents closest to where you are more than three times in rapid succession, that is probably a sign you will be needed..._"

"All right," I said. "I shall be leaving then. With any luck, I will go into the district itself soon enough?"

"_Possibly,_" replied Caroline.

I smiled as I geared up to leave. "I'm looking forward to it," I replied. "There will be lots of people to meet, I take it..."

Edward and Caroline both glanced at each other nervously, both of them shrugging it off as I exited the tent slowly.


	10. The Return to the Journey

Okay. So now things are beginning to come together quite quickly. We get development of more characters, and so things are all fine and well with that.

Did I mention that Curtis will start going in by day now?

Let's see the first time he goes deep into the District, shall we...?

* * *

The Return to the Journey

The day shift the next day seemed a little hectic to me.

But then again, that likely has much to do with the fact that it was also the first day I had entered the heart of District 10 and seen some of the horrible things that occurred within the district.

I forget exactly how I managed to get into the district; James and Abejide were both asking me what I was doing, and I had made a very quickly-constructed excuse for going into the district. I knew I would either have to get James and Abejide to see things from my side of the equation or continue making up excuses, and so I made up another excuse as I followed Harold at a distance into the heart of the district.

And instantly, the first sensation that hit me was the awful stench in the air. Despite the clean-cut look of the district in all of the pamplets that I had seen of the district, there was garbage just about everywhere in the district. It lent itself to the foul smell in the air that I found I absolutely could not stand.

As soon as the two of us were far enough in the district, Harold turned to me warily.

"_I hope you're not too squeamish..._" he said quickly.

"I don't think I am," I said. "But still, I can't help but wonder how the bloody hell you're able to stand this awful stench."

"_We have different senses of smell from you_," replied Harold. "_This is not so bad to us as it is to you. It's still pretty bad, though..._"

I shook my head, the thought that one could get used to such a smell partly making me squeamish. "I don't know how you can get used to it, then," I said. "This smell is awful!"

Harold shook his head nervously. "_Come on,_" he said. "_You said you wanted to see the district. Well, here you are..._"

I nodded, and he began to move into the district itself. Nervously, I followed, trying my hardest not to mind the stench as I moved along behind the poleepkwa. I found it absolutely the most difficult thing I've had to do, however, and so I looked to the poleepkwa in front of me nervously.

"_Caroline will be with us in a few seconds_," he reassured me. "_Don't worry._"

I nodded, feeling a little better that Caroline would be with me. Because at least I knew that she cared, and that was more than enough for me to continue on. Thankfully, we did eventually run into her after a certain point. I nodded to her, trying my best to smile as I walked in.

She saw right past it, and tilted her head to the side, the antennae following.

"_Are you uncomfortable?_" she asked.

Grimacing slightly, I nodded.

"I can't stand the smell here," I said. "It's absolutely atrocious..."

The poleepkwa rolled her blue eyes to the side before looking at me. "_Unfortunately,_" she said. "_With all the junk that gets heaped on us here, it's hardly surprising..._"

I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant by that statement. One would have thought that there would be very little junk laying around in District 10 given that it was far away from Johannesburg. However, given a few months and over two million aliens that scraped off of whatever last scrap of food they could find, there were bound to be junk heaps everywhere. And indeed, there were plenty of junk heaps just from the rations alone. Admittedly, however, the smell of all of the junk heaps combined was much stronger than what I had initially anticipated. After all, I had only expected aluminum cans left lying around. To think they would give off such a vicious smell was something I had not expected, of course.

I made this known quite quickly.

"But I would expect it wouldn't be as bad as this," I said.

Caroline shook her head. "_You have no idea..._" she said nervously as we moved on.

"_Why do you think Matthew goes out?_" asked Harold suddenly.

Thinking about this, I nodded. "I see your point," I said. "I think I'll shut up now and just look..."

"_I'm afraid you might not like our first destination, then,_" said Caroline softly.

Raising an eyebrow, I looked to the woman. "Why not?" I asked.

"_You'll see,_" said Harold nervously. "_You'll see..._"

Nervously, I nodded, not looking forward to what I was going to by the sound of Harold's slightly more agitated clicks.

* * *

I remember thinking to myself when I first saw our destination that I really should have seen it coming, but didn't for some odd reason or another.

When we stopped, I stood in front of a large junk heap, around which multiple poleepkwans were scavenging. It was not overly tall by any means, but it did take up about as much space as a tent normally would. I cringed in disgust, the smell getting ever so stronger.

But what shocked me the most about it was how many poleepkwans were invading the pile. All colors of poleepkwa were scavenging at the base of the junk pile, looking for various scraps of stuff. Occasionally, one came across what could be construed as an article of torn-up clothing and would walk away with that, and other times it would take in half-rotten meat and eat it. Most others came across a can of cat food and ran their feelers down the open can hoping to pick up a morsel. Afterwards, they all left, either by their own volition or because a more violent poleepkwa had come in and attempted to wrest them out.

The smell was bad enough, but seeing everything with the scavengers.

"This is disgusting!" I said, facing Caroline as I looked at the blue plates on the back of her head. "How the hell is this possible?"

"_Months of rations and poleepkwans dying,_" replied Caroline. "_This pile has been here for a long time._"

I crossed my arms in front of me, not very amused by this. "But... Why this many people starving?"

Harold turned to me, brown plates shining in the sun as he regarded me. "_I take it you don't deal in ration-giving..._"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "That's another person's job. I'm supposed to make sure order is kept here..."

"_I see..._" said Harold, looking back at the pile sadly. "_Nobody here really gets fed that well, I tell you. Mostly, you only get food if you go to the ration line early or if you have a child with you. I'm lucky because I bring Matthew with me whenever I get rations, and the whole tent is able to get enough food to go for a week without starving. Others aren't so lucky..._"

I remember being appalled. "You mean, there are people that don't get any food at all?" I asked.

"_Unfortunately,_" replied Caroline, looking down on the scavengers as they moved around. "_And so, most of them have resorted to things like this. It's what Matthew does at another pile like this, actually._"

My eyes widened in shock, looking at Caroline as she glanced down sadly. "You mean, there's _more_ than just this pile?"

"_They're all over the district,_" replied Harold glumly. "_It's sad how many people you can see scavenging around in a day..._"

At once, a stream of thoughts came into my mind. How horrible must it have been for the poor poleepkwans to wonder into the smell was the first thought that graced my mind, but another thing that occurred to me was how unsanitary the junk piles probably were. Another thing that had me thinking was all of the diseases that they could have possibly caught while trying to search for food. Even worse was the fact that the only meat there was likely half-rotten by the time they found it, and that the clothes were probably dirty. As well, I remembered that there was no place truly nearby for them to wash anything with water.

Shaking my head, I ran my hands through my hair as I looked to Caroline.

"And nobody cared to think about this when they placed the location for this district?" I asked.

"_I don't think they cared, period,_" replied Caroline softly. "_They just wanted us out of there..._"

I shook my head, this new detail disturbing me to no end. I crossed my arms in front of me again, looking at Caroline and Harold. I was still in disbelief that I was seeing this, so I pinche myself lightly on the arm. Upon not waking up from a subtle nightmare, however, I groaned.

"Damn it..." I said. "Don't you have anywhere else to put your garbage?"

Harold turned to me, frowning slightly. "_What do you mean by that?_" he asked. From the way his clicks sounded, I realized I had unintentionally offended him.

"I didn't mean it like that!" I replied, stepping back. "I mean, think about it. This is spreading illness like there's no tomorrow! The junk heaps have food, sure, but some of it can kill the poor things faster! Can't you figure out a way to dispose of your trash that won't kill off your fellow poleepkwa?"

Harold's expression softened upon hearing me ask this, and looking down he shook his head.

"_We tried_," replied Caroline. "_But the earth isn't deep enough to hold all of our garbage..._"

"_I wish something could be done about it,_" said Harold, looking dejectedly at me.

I nodded, knowing that he meant that I was the one he hoped would help his people.

"I can't promise anything," I said. "I am only a security guard, after all. But I know a higher-up, and I'll try..."

Harold nodded at me, a smile seeming to form on his mouthparts.

"_Thank you,_" he said.

I couldn't help but feel right then that my attempts to help them would end up going nowhere, and the feeling of hopelessness was not helped by what I had seen that day.

It was thus with a heavy heart that I returned to my post before the day went out, Harold and Caroline not going with me for understandable reasons. Upon returning to my post, I simply sighed and nodded to James and Abejide.

"There was nothing there," I said.

The two of them noticed the slight waver in my voice, but thankfully chose not to say anything about it as I stood right next to them.

* * *

I was still a little perturbed about everything when I had gone to my night shift later. I was quite silent as I entered, which disturbed Marius a little bit as he knew I was usually a little more talkative than that. He did try to start a few conversations on topics I forget about, but I was still thinking back to the junk piles and how horrible life must have been if they were resorting to eating half-rotten meat to make sure they didn't starve to death. It was to the point where I was saying nothing much of my first trip deep within the distrct during that night shift.

Finally, though, Marius seemed to notice that I was being more silent than I had any right to be, and so he crossed his arms in front of him and looked at me.

"Curtis?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Blinking, I said nothing for a few seconds. Drumming my fingers along the barrel of my firearm, I finally spoke.

"I went deep within the district today," I said. "Caroline was with me..."

The Afrikaaner nodded. "And what you saw there was bad enough?"

I nodded. "Marius, you haven't the slightest idea..." I said. "There were these huge junk piles where these things were foraging for food and clothes... The sanitation must be awful... And there were aliens that were satisfied with half-rotten meat! I can't imagine why anyone would settle for something like that..."

Marius looked at me. "They did have to do that when they were still in District 9, you know," he replied.

I was surprised at this. "They did?" I asked.

"Unfortunately," said my companion. "They made a documentary on what happened just before the big move to here..."

"Really?" I asked. This came across as very strange for me, as I had never heard of such a documentary being done. "And it showed the same things as I saw here?"

Marius nodded. "Pretty much," he said. "It's kind of wierd, actually. You'd think MNU would do something about this, especially after the experiments were uncovered..."

"I heard about that," I said. "So you think there is something I can say about that if I were to talk to someone?"

We were both silent for a brief period of time, the two of us not even moving our limbs. The meaning of the question sank in, and then Marius turned to me with a mischievous grin on his face. He chuckled softly and in good humor.

"You conniving bastard!" he jokingly exclaimed. "Using Piet Smit to make things better? That's brilliant!"

I nodded, smiling as well as I realized how odd the situation really was. "I promised them I would try to do something about it," I replied. "And maybe I can pull a few strings..."

Marius nodded, still smiling. "I don't know if that would work, but damn it that's brilliant," he replied. "Good luck with that."

I nodded. "Thanks," I said. "The fact that they're still in squalid conditions doesn't make me feel much better, but I did need something like that..."

"Hey, you're my friend," replied Marius. "Friends are supposed to stand up for others when they're not feeling so good, right?"

Smiling at this bit of soothsaying, I nodded. "Yes," I said. "Thanks, Marius."

The Afrikaaner nodded, and we both struck up a short conversation almost immediately afterwards.

* * *

I was in a slightly better mood when I had gone to the tent again, and I nodded. When I entered, I saw Jonathan sitting there again, exactly where I had seen him sleeping the night before. This time, he sat up, looking to me as Jamecyn and David glanced at me from where they sat. Matthew had already fallen fast asleep, and Harold and Mark were both nowhere to be found. I looked to Caroline and Edward as they looked to me.

"Where's Harold?" I asked.

"_Out,_" replied Jonathan. "_They're helping Wilbur again..._"

I nodded. "I wonder why he is such a problem..." I said.

"_MNU has business with him..._" said David. "_Exactly what it is, I have no idea, as he never tells us what he did in the past..._"

"I can imagine..." I said, thinking about what could have possibly happened with "Wilbur" again. "Why would Wilbur need help?"

Jamecyn shook her head. "_It really pisses me off..._" she said. "_He's always moving around the district because of MNU. He can never stay in one place for long..._"

"Oh dear..." I said. "It's that much of a problem, eh?"

"_Unfortunately_," said Jamecyn "_Now if only he'd tell us what the fuck happened, then things would be better!_"

Edward simply shook his head. "_Now, now, Jamecyn, I'm not sure you have any right to talk about him like that..._" he said.

"_But he never opens his mouth!_" said the dark green poleepkwa. "_How am I supposed to know we can trust him?_"

"Well, let me put it this way," I replied, putting my hands in front of me as I spoke. "The enemy of your enemy is your friend. Meaning that since both of you are out of favor with MNU, you have reason to trust him."

Jamecyn blinked at me nervously, not sure what to make of my advice. She nodded.

"_I still don't think that's good enough, but whatever,_" she said.

Jonathan shrugged. "_I mean, other times he's not much of a problem..._" he said, rubbing some of his face plates. "_It's just this one thing with MNU. But he tries to make sure the rest of us don't get hurt by him..._"

I nodded. "There's that too," I added. "Jamecyn, I'm not sure why you're so walled off against others..."

"_That's none of your business,_" she said as she turned away from me.

It was silent in the tent for a few seconds before I crossed my arms in front of me. "Right," I said. "Anyone mind telling me why Matthew fell asleep early?"

"_Harold,_" replied Caroline. "_He wouldn't leave until we put Matthew safely in bed._"

"I see..." I felt a little bad for Matthew, seeing as how he rarely got the sleep every child deserved. "That's a good move then. I won't wake him up tonight."

"_Why not?_" asked Edward. "_He always looks forward to hearing your tales._"

"Sleep is more important for him," I replied, looking down at the sleeping child. "Besides, I have plenty of time to talk about the rest of the Greek gods on my own terms. Provided nothing gets out of hand, of course..."

"_You never can tell in this damn place, but I see your point_," said Jonathan. "_I hope things are going well in the district..._"

"They are," I said, turning to Caroline as I took out my recording device. "I wonder... story?"

"_Of course_," said Caroline, shifting slightly where she sat.

* * *

**When the great one was finally able to walk outside, it walked outside of the small place it had grown so accustomed to seeing. The kind one was not with it, and so Balgernon was free to roam around nervously.**

**What it saw changed a few things.**

**It had only been around Ganrel, and so was very unprepared to see a startling amount of hardships endured by the people there. Balgernon saw a great many people laying in the streets, dying of thirst. The great one was appalled at this, moving along in the small place rather quickly after seeing this. It only stumbled more onto scenes of great hardship amongst other people. The great one seemed lost as it came across the sight of lesser ones attempting to carry containers they could not carry properly across. Nothing escaped Balgernon's notice at all, as the great one noticed the suffering of some around it.**

**And as it moved around, it gained a new appreciation for Ganrel's kindness.**

**Thus, when Balgernon returned to Ganrel's home, the great one spoke to the kind one.**

**"Ganrel, do tell me something," began Balgernon. "How is life out here in the desert...?"**

**The kind one was silent at first, not sure what the great one meant by this. "I trust it is a Marshlander's way of seeing the world?" asked Ganrel.**

**"I'm unused to it," replied Balgernon. "I've lived comfortably by a body of water all my life..."**

**Ganrel nodded. "It is hard in the desert," it said. "Resources are always scarce. And yet, we manage. We really do. It is a hard life, even as we adapt. But lately, there has been an awful drought in the area that will not let up. And... it makes things more difficult"**

**"I admire you all the more for your hope, then," said Balgernon. "I don't think I could understand what happens here..."**

**Ganrel looked at the great one disbelievingly. "Then why not go back?"**

**Balgernon shook its head. "I have nowhere to go back to," replied the great one sadly. "The place I once called home is destroyed now. I am now a wanderer, now and forever. I have no home now... And I can't stop moving, for fear of creating more danger for all..."**

**The kind one was silent for a brief period. Finally, it knelt next to Balgernon with a warm expression on its face.**

**"Then let me accompany you," it said. "Your loneliness must surely be worse than whatever destroyed your home."**

**"You would do that?" asked Balgernon uncertainly.**

**"If only it would make you more comfortable..." said Ganrel. "I would feel horrible leaving you to yourself. Let me be your companion..."**

**Silently, Balgernon agreed.**

**And so, the next day, the two companions left the desert town, Balgernon no longer feeling so alone as it heard the footfalls of the compassionate one behind it.**

* * *

"_And that is a good place to stop..._"

I nodded, stopping the recording. I looked at the screen and noticed that my batteries would have to be replaced soon. I looked to Edward and Caroline as I turned the device off and stored it in my armor.

"It reminds me," I said. "You all must be very uncomfortable in these tents..."

"_Very_," replied Jamecyn to my left. "_I wish we could go out and leave..._"

"Which is unfortunately a little hard since your mothership left you here..." I added, my gaze going to where the sky was.

"_We await its return..._" said Edward vaguely.

Frowning, I looked to him. "You mean to tell me you think it will return?"

"_Of course,_" said Edward. "_I hold on to the hope it will return to us someday._"

I nodded uncertainly, wondering what would happen when that finally occurred. I simply nodded to the group and moved to leave the tent.

"I wouldn't be sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing for us..." I said, pointing at myself. I am very sure Edward understood my meaning as he nodded. "But in the meantime, I'll see what I can do. Good night."

And with that, I left the tent.


	11. The Grand Dragon

Things might not be going so well with Curtis unfortunately. Ah, well. What can you do?

Actually, funny thing about that: it's something talked about in the best apartheid memoirs. One thing that some people mention is that sometimes the biggest sins in apartheid weren't totally from the white man, but rather from what the conditions around people forced others to do. So since District 9 was a massive apartheid allegory, I figured I'd play off of that.

The results will be seen below. Here we go.

* * *

The Grand Dragon

Unfortunately, the issue of the junk piles would not leave me alone when I desperately wanted it to.

And it very sadly had much more to do than the fact that I had promised I would ask Piet Smit about something that he could do about it, as the next day would prove so horrendously.

I had not even seen the signal when I suddenly thought I heard loud squealings coming from within the camp. I blinked and looked to James and Abejide. Before I could expound, I felt their gazes go on my being, and then we all looked to the origin of the sound. I heard it again and looked to James.

The American expatriate was one step ahead of me, however. "I heard it too," he said.

"Come on!" I said, running into the district quickly. "This is not likely to be good!"

James and Abejide followed on my trail without asking any questions. The three of us barrelled through the camp, passing by poleepkwans and tents alike in our rush to get to the origin of the sound.

When I arrived there with James and Abejide hot on my heels, I saw quite a strange scene before me. Other poleepkwans were scattered in a crowd that I had to fight my way through, with James and Abejide close behinds. When I arrived in the center, I saw a slightly cinnamon and vanilla colored child cowering to the side, almost in the crowd. It shivered where it was, holding something in its four arms. Above it, a blueish-gray alien was protecting it with what appeared to be an outstretched crutch with its end having been snapped off. I sensed fear in its light gray eyes, however, as a larger and far more intimidating poleepkwa was edging towards it. Without wasting time, I came forward, holding my gun up and aiming at the imposing poleepkwan.

"Hey!" I cried out. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"

The imposing poleepkwan turned to me, seemingly glaring at me. James and Abejide followed suit, all pointing guns at the alien as the imposing one stared the three of us down.

James suddenly had the gumption to look at the child, noticing what it held in its arms.

"What, all this is over food?" I heard him ask behind me.

Glancing down at the child, I indeed saw the familiar containers that were handed out by the people in charge of the ration lines.

And almost immediately, I wished I had not looked to see the ration containers. For then I knew that this would not end very well for someone in the circle.

Before I could think on it further, however, the imposing one turned to James. "_He took the last ration!_" it exclaimed in a flurry of angry clicks and chirps. "_Those guys skipped over me and gave it to this conniving freak and that child!_"

"Well, calm down," I replied almost too quickly. "We can't help you with your rations problem, and--"

"_Just tell that kid to give my ration back!_" it exclaimed with enough force to make me flinch slightly.

"_We were in the line before this one!_" retorted the gray-blue poleepkwa, pointing its crutch at me and the imposing one alternately. "_He just wants to steal our food!_"

I shook my head. I knew that the child should have the rations being so small, and that its guardian as well needed them to be able to take care of the smaller one. That much was set in my mind.

The only reason I delayed, then, was because I was afraid of what would happen if I voiced exactly what I thought. I did not want the imposing one to kill the child, but at the same time I would feel extremely uncomfortable if it involved the death of someone. I could fire my gun, but my insecurities were raging beyond what they should have been.

Before I could say anything, however, James opened his mouth. "No," he said, pointing his rifle at the imposing one. "Children get priority. You know that."

"_But that child isn't even its!_" clicked the imposing one threateningly as it leaned towards James. "_It uses that child, I tell you!_"

"_The only reason that's in place is because his father is dead!_" replied the bluer poleepkwa. "_I'm watching its child in its stead!_"

"_Lies!_" cried the poleepkwa as it moved towards the one holding the crutch. "_You lie!_"

Before the two that were threatened could flee, however, I did something I realize now would be quite foolish in any other circumstance. I leapt in between the two of them, holding my rifle so it was aiming at him. I swallowed, trying not to lose my courage in the face of its glare.

"You know the regulations," I said. "All children and their guardians are top priority for rations. I don't want any trouble. Now please, just walk away and everything will be--"

The poleepkwa grabbed me roughly by my left arm and tossed me to the side angrily. It clicked and chirped something I was unable to hear as I was sent flying, and I felt myself hit soft exoskeleton before I fell to the ground. I didn't feel any bad injuries, thankfully, as a few people in the poleepkwan crowd had stopped my fall, whether intentional or not.

As soon as I hit the ground, I suddenly heard several rounds of gunshots, no doubt from Abejide or James. The scene was briefly obscured, but the poleepkwans scattered quickly enough that I was able to see the blood spraying about as the imposing poleepkwa was shot at. I saw that Abejide was the one who fired the gun, and the imposing one was shot at least four more times by the Nigerian before it went down, still as a rock. The two that had been harassed by the larger poleepkwa had disappeared with the rest of the crowd, and for this I was thankful.

I looked to James, who had approached me. He extended a hand out to help me back up, and I gave him my left hand. Thankfully, I didn't feel any pain when I did, and so James helped me up as Abejide ran towards the larger poleepkwa and shot it a few more times just to make sure it was dead.

"Are you okay?" asked the American.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I said, looking to where Abejide was walking away from the dead alien. "Abejide... Did you...?"

The Nigerian nodded as he pointed behind him with a thumb. "Sixteen times," he said.

At this, I snapped out of my stupor and looked at my companion. "Sixteen times?" I asked, utterly shocked by this. "Did you really have to shoot it that many times?"

"It was like the lion," replied Abejide. "Used that many shots as... how do you British people say it...?"

"A precaution?" I asked incredulously. "But sixteen bullets is considered overkill! Why?"

"Better to be safe than sorry," replied Abejide offhandedly. "Now let's go back to our posts. James, you can fill out the report."

With this, the Nigerian walked out of the camp, leaving James and myself in the middle of the district. The American blinked before turning to me.

"You're not so distressed because of that, were you?" he asked.

I nodded. "I wanted to save more lives..." I replied. "Also, because this could have been prevented by many things..."

James nodded. "You've seen something in this district you weren't supposed to, haven't you?" he asked.

"You could say that..." I said, looking down sadly. "Those poor things either have to hope they get rations or raid the garbage piles for food. And if they don't get any luck with either, they starve... It's so sad. I never figured that a conflict over food would end with a fatality... and yet..."

The American patted my shoulder and nodded grimly. "That's what we've gotta deal with," he told me. "Just remember Murphy's Law: if something can get worse, it _will_ get worse. The only thing left to do then is to hope that there are things we can do to at the very least alleviate circumstances."

I looked to him and nodded. "I'll try," I told him. "I already promised someone else I would. But I'm not entirely sure if I can succeed..."

"Give it time," replied James. "I'm sure you will."

I looked down at the ground for a few seconds as I thought of what James had told me. I then realized that in a way everything he said was right. I nodded then, trying to smile lightly.

"I wonder if I'll ever see those two around here again..." I mused.

James chuckled as he approached the dead poleepkwa to read the MNU number on its head. "I'm sure you will, knowing how you are," he replied good naturedly.

I myself chuckled in response, figuring that with my luck I would indeed run into them again.

* * *

My night shift with Marius had gone rather uneventfully. The Afrikaaner had served ration duty earlier, and was able to confirm that the imposing one was in fact behind the bluish-gray poleepkwa that it had intimidated, and so I was put to rest a little easily that at least the one guarding the child was being honest. It still did not make me feel any better about the fact that someone had die, but I decided not to mention that to Marius.

And so, when I went to the tent where Caroline was later that night, I sighed, not sure I would be able to face them. In fact, the only reason I went in was because I knew that if the searchlights went on I would be done for. And so, I entered the tent, half expecting to get a lecture from Jamecyn at this point.

Surprisingly, however, Jamecyn seemed to be less angry than I normally knew her to be after one of my typical fiascoes in the district. Surprised at this, I went into the tent, looking at her and intending to speak.

"_There's no need,_" she said before I could say anything. "_I was in that crowd that gathered around those three. Your friend did the right thing. For once._"

At this, I blinked uncertainly. "You're not angry?" I asked.

"_With that one, there was no other way it could've ended..._" replied Jamecyn. "_That one was known to be the most violent pit fighter in District 9. It's about time someone put his... his 'money where his mouth is', as you humans say it."_

I bit my lower lip, releasing it almost as quickly as I had bitten on it as I looked to the normally much less tempered poleepkwa. I had heard about the pitfighters from Edward one evening before I had told Caroline, so I knew what they were capable of. But it still did not assuage anything.

"That still doesn't make me feel any better..." I said, glancing down at the ground tepidly. "I mean... someone had to die..."

"_He had it coming,_" said Jamecyn bluntly. "_That's all I'll say._"

I nodded, looking to the others. Jonathan was already asleep, as were David and Mark, but Harold, Caroline, Matthew, and Edward were all awake as well as Jamecyn. I looked to the others, massaging one of my hands.

"Then can you at least tell me who those other two were?" I asked. "I've been worried about everything with them being a lie..."

"_You won't have to worry about that..._" said Harold. "_It makes me a little angrier at MNU over what they did to poor Saskia..._"

I blinked. "That's the child's name?" I asked, uncertainly.

"_Yes,_" replied Harold. "_The kid's MNU issued name is Saskia Anderson. His father was Samuel Anderson..._"

I nodded, thinking about the two names. "What happened to his father?"

"_Disappeared,_" replied Caroline. "_He was arrested by MNU just before the first attempt at relocation. Nobody has ever heard from him since, not even Saskia._"

Grimly, I looked down. "That's awful," I said, rubbing my chin nervously. "What was he arrested for?"

"_Being out after curfew,_" replied Edward. "_At least, that's what they say. We all know it was because he hung out around the wrong people..._"

"The wrong people?" I asked. "MNU arrested people for that?"

"_Unfortunately..._" replied Caroline.

I grimaced, legitimately shocked at this. "That's horrible!" I said. "It's bad enough that he became arrested for a stupid reason, but to top it all off he was separated from his only child?" I shivered slightly at this revelation. "Damn it, why couldn't my employer be more decent to you?"

"_That's a damn good question,_" replied Jamecyn, crossing her arms in front of her. "_At least you try to treat us like we're your equals._"

I shook my head, lips turned in a frown as I looked at everybody in the tent. "It definitely does not help that they are the only ones I can contact to get close to you..." I added.

The others in the tent nodded in agreement, and then I realized I had forgotten one last detail. "So who is the child's guardian?"

"_An old friend of Samuel's,_" replied Harold, tracing out a name in the ground. "_His MNU issued name is Kyler Asher._"

I nodded. "Kyler Asher, eh?" I asked. "I wonder... Who were they around?"

"_We're not telling you,_" said Jamecyn. "_If you want to know, you'll have to ask him..._"

I knew then that I would get nothing more out of my friends. "All right," I said. "I'll ask. Provided I ever run into him or Saskia again... They must be very important if you're writing their names on the ground."

The others nodded, and then I turned to Matthew. He was laying in the cot with his father close beside him, looking very tired. I slowly crawled to him and looked down at the child. Seeing Matthew look at me with the innocent eyes put me at ease slightly, and so I smiled at him.

"Hey, Matt," I said affectionately.

"_Story man!_" he exclaimed. "_Do you have something you want to tell me?_"

"Of course I do," I said. "Let's continue from where we left off, shall we?"

Matthew's head bobbed up and down eagerly as he made his excitement clear.

I smiled and shifted slightly so that I was sitting down. It was then that I realized that I had talked enough about the Gods. And so, I began to tell him the tale of Heracles, beginning with one of Zeus' affairs and how Hera in her jealousy attempted to kill Heracles. I also recounted how each attempt failed, and the discovery of Heracles' near-inhuman strength. He was avidly interested in hearing about Heracles that when I had gotten to the killing of his family in a rage induced by Hera, he was eagerly begging for more. It was one of the few times he was asking for more, and so I began to talk about the twelve labors of Heracles, but I ended up stopping after the Lernean Hydra when he drifted off to sleep.

As soon as he was asleep, I turned to Caroline.

"_Sounds a lot like Balgernon,_" she said.

I shrugged. "Some mythologies have common ground," I replied. "Two quests for redemption, although to be honest the second one has much stronger vibes of your typical Greek hero story..."

"_And what does that involve?_" asked Harold.

"Plenty of things," I replied. "Namely, god-hero antagonism and glory."

The others that were still awake nodded. "_I believe I have a story to tell as well?_"

"You do," I said, fishing out my audio recorder and hitting record twice. "You may begin."

* * *

**The great one and its companion travelled along the roads less frequently travelled, the landscape shifting gradually from the harsh desert to the edge of the volcanic mountains to the west of the grand desert. Balgernon did not stop there, and so Ganrel followed along.**

**As they moved about the volcanic mountains, Balgernon could not help but feel as if they were being watched by something. He slowed down slightly, realizing that it did not have anything to defend itself with.**

**Thankfully, Ganrel came up to it then and put something in the great one's hand. Blinking, Balgernon looked down and found a great steel knife in its claws. Looking to the kind one with a baffled expression, Ganrel simply pointed at the object. Its blade glowed of golden metal, a hilt made of finest jewels.**

**"A dagger," it said. "Passed down my family for generations. Take it. We will need it soon..."**

**Surprised that the one he had known for being good to others had brought a weapon, it simply shrugged and moved along the mountains, its companion following behind.**

**Soon enough, however, a grand roar sounded throughout the land, and suddenly Balgernon and Ganrel looked up. There, they saw a magnificent dragon, dirt-colored scales failing to shine in the odd light given off by the volcanoes. Leery golden eyes glared down at the duo, and then it rushed at them.**

**Balgernon and Ganrel both scattered, dodgig the dragon's swipe as the great one thought of a way to defeat a dragon with only a dagger. Looking around, it did not find much to work with. However, it spotted many small caves around the area that it could use. Ganrel was already taking refuge in one as the dragon hovered around in the air. The cunning one then looked around for any smaller caves that were higher up that he could grab on to.**

**As the dragon swooped down on Balgernon once again, the great one leapt up in the air, briefly grabbing a hold of the entrance of one of the little caves. Ignoring how hot it was, the great one held on to the ledge in wait, its feet touching the surface. The dragon turned quickly and swooped towards Balgernon again.**

**However, the cunning one was quick, and so it leapt off from its feet as the dragon approached. Through luck, Balgernon managed to leap onto the dragon's neck. Screaming, the grand creature began to move about, Balgernon hanging on as best it could. The mountains seemed to go by quickly as Balgernon wrestled with the dragon for control of the skies. In its fury, the dragon was easier to control, however, and the great one used this to its advantage, forcing it to crash into the sides of the mountains of the land the dragon inhabited.**

**And after a few minutes of struggling with the creature, Balgernon finally brought it to the ground, Ganrel coming out of its hiding place tepidly. Immediately, Balgernon put the knife to the dragon's critical vein, looking down on it.**

**"Wait," said the dragon suddenly. "Spare me, and I can aid you however you see fit..."**

**Balgernon hesitated the slightest bit, and then getting off of the dragon the great one nodded.**

**"All right," it said. "I shall spare your life. We are but travellers wondering the land, and we were wondering what lays beyond these mountains..."**

**"Beyond the mountains are two nations at war," repied the dragon. "Beware, as once you choose a side there will be no going back for you or your companion."**

**"And if we should ever need help?" asked Balgernon warily.**

**The dragon regurgitated something then. Looking at the thing that was regurgitated, Balgernon realized it was a charm made a hard material. Picking it up, the great one noticed holes in it.**

**"That is a flute carvedout of the exoskeleton of a greater millock monster," said the dragon. "If you play it, I will come to your aid, regardless of where you are."**

**Balgernon nodded as the dragon slowly stood up.**

**"Thank you," said the grateful one with a bow of its head.**

**And with this, the dragon flew away, disappearing into the skies overhead. Ganrel looked at Balgernon, and the two of them continued on in the strange new land, the great one holding the charm in its hand as the steadfast one followed close behind.**

* * *

"_And that's a good place to stop._"

Nodding, I pressed stop and put the device back in my armor. "I wonder..." I said. "How exactly do you know everybody around here?"

"_I used to go all over the place,_" replied Edward. "_I knew a lot of people before we came to this District. Harold did too, I'll be honest..._"

I nodded, wondering how small a world District 9 must have been. "I see..." I said.

"_Some I know less than others,_" said Harold as he looked down on me. "_But I still know a lot of people... And it helps a lot._"

"That would be good if you're trying to get along in this district," I said. "So that's a plus. I shall see you guys tomorrow, then. Good night."

"_Good night_," said Caroline.

And with this, I exited the tent, minding the searchlights as I moved back to my post.


	12. The Malevolent Side

Okay. So I saw the movie again, and I realized all the reasons I love it so much. It's just flippin' awesome. And better yet, I got my parents to watch it, too.

So, yeah. _District 9_ is awesome. As usual.

Anyhoos, last chapter had new characters that don't belong to me. So, Saskia Anderson and Kyler Asher belong to Poleepkwana, and there is a whole batch of characters by her that will be coming soon. So yeah. We shall see about that. If you want more background on them, check out her fic Poleepkwa Help Association.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's analyze tensions, shall we?

* * *

The Malevolent Side

I wanted to forget about what I had seen in the district the day before. I truly did.

But alas, my mind had other plans as I woke up the next day at noon. The child... its guardian... and the one intimidating the both of them.

For the life of me, I was unable to chase the mental image from my mind. The aggression at play between the two forces was very charged, and I felt horrific about it. Our mistreatment of them was honestly bad enough, but I felt horrible having to face the reality that not all of their sufferings were inflicted by us. Partly, I wanted to believe that the poleepkwans were incapable of hatred towards each other in the face of such strife.

And yet, it was in the face of such strife that there was absolutely no unity at all. They were actually as disorganized as they could have possibly been when it came to how they dealt with the suffering amongst themselves. It would certainly not be the last time I ever saw such brutality between members of the same species in District 10, but it was one of the most prominent incidents given how much it made me think.

It was early enough in the week that I could sign up for weekend leave the next day, however. I decided to write my name on the list, and use the time given to me to think a little bit about the suffering of the alien race in the district.

I still had a job to do, however, and so I went to work as usual then.

* * *

My day shift was spent looking over to where Hendrik and Dawid stood in their respective shifts. I looked at him, thinking about how quick he was to raise his gun when it came to resolving conflicts. If a poleepkwan wondered over, he would raise his gun. Whenever he went in the district to solve a problem, he would gun down the poleepkwa responsible without a second thought. And he always had his gun in his hands no matter what.

I was less annoyed by the actions themselves than by the fact that the higher-ups would let him do such things.

James and I had a very brief discussion about Marius and how people would allow him to do the things that he did, and we both came to the conclusion that he only did them because the people in charge allowed him too. The fact that the superiors used the term "prawn" all the time seemed to lend credence, but what really convinced me otherwise was that they simply did nothing to Hendrik.

It was clearly stated in our company policies that people would be fired for any abuses perpetrated by the guards. I found, however, that they did not count abuses against poleepkwans as such.

It constantly made me think back to Jamecyn. She was the one that was always giving me the hardest time about abuses against the poleepkwa that were not even my fault. She had forgiven me over the events surrounding Kyler and Saskia, of course, but I was still feeling quite horrible about how Hendrik conducted themselves with their racist behaviors.

And I realized then that both kinds of suppression were equally bad. Ultimately, it mattered not whether the guards were being jerks to the people they were supposed to protect or whether they did not do their jobs and allowed incidents to happen. Either way, it was still horrible.

In the end, there was only MNU to blame, given that MNU was the one who was oppressing the aliens.

But even then, more questions arose. I still decided to take the weekend leave to ponder about the exact nature of the suppression, and maybe even to find things out about MNU that would help me acquire answers as to why MNU was oppressing them in the first place.

* * *

I signed up to go on weekend leave just before my night shift. I was feeling a little better already that I would get some time to think about what I had been seeing, and so I went over to my night shift.

Marius rose an eyebrow upon seeing me.

"Curtis, are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm going on weekend leave," I replied cheerfully. "I've needed a little time to think a little about the xenophobia here..."

Marius nodded. "I see..." he said. "But... won't that mean that you won't be available to help?"

"I realize that," I said. "I'm sure you could help a little bit, though..."

"What could I do?" asked Marius apprehensively. "You have only been here for a brief period of time and already your kindness has gotten the trust of some of these people. I'm barely of any help here..."

I looked to Marius sadly. "Unfortunately, my kindness is only a fraction of what goes on in this district," I replied. "If Harold and Caroline have shown me anything, it is that I am only able to help a small amount..."

"Not really," replied the Afrikaaner. "Remember that small acts of kindness are never forgotten and that they have far-reaching effects."

I looked to Marius. "My acts of kindness so far have only affected a total of ten people," I replied. "I fail to see how such acts could have repurcussions over two and a half million poleepkwans..."

"We shall see," Marius said. "We shall see."

I simply looked into the encampment. Looking back, I realised all along that he was definitely right. For even though I had only affected the lives of ten or so of the poleepkwans at the time, something else would factor in hugely with how the poleepkwans would be affected by my various acts of kindness.

And that would eventually turn out to their advantage.

* * *

As I entered the tent, I looked to Caroline as soon as I could see her.

"Hey, Caroline," I said. "I have something I need to tell you."

"_And what would that be?_" she asked, looking at me nervously.

"I'm going on weekend leave this weekend," I replied.

From around the tent, agitated clicks were heard. I looked around and noticed that Edward was already asleep. Harold and Mark were not there, and this time I assumed that it had something to do with this Wilbur I kept on hearing about. Everyone else was awake, Matthew looking at me eagerly.

Instantly, I saw Jamecyn's glare on my person as I said this. "_Is this about the whole food shortage thing?_" she asked.

I nodded, knowing I could never hide the truth from Jamecyn. "Unfortunately," I said. "I just can't decide which is worse; the fact that your people have to do horrible things to survive, or that our intolerance caused it to happen..."

"_Oh, well that's easy,_" said Jamecyn quickly. "_Blame MNU._"

"_Jamecyn, that's what you _always _say about the problems in the district..._" David complained, looking at Jamecyn pleadingly.

"_When you think about it, though, it's not that implausible,_" replied Jonathan. "_If not for how they handled us, things would not have gotten to this point..._"

"_We can't be too sure about that,_" replied Caroline. "_Sometimes we do horrible things ourselves._"

"_But that doesn't change the fact that they treat us horribly..._" replied Jonathan. "_And over not even looking like the same species as them, no less!_"

I shook my head. "Well, to be perfectly honest, we've done things like this to _ourselves_ throughout history," I pointed out. "There was one particularly nasty incident that occurred fourty year before you came to this planet where people were prosecuted almost like this on the basis of having a different religion."

At this, all eyes turned to me and were quite shocked. "_Truly?_" asked Caroline.

"Yes," I said. "Thankfully, the nation responsible was at war, so it never lasted as long as this has. But still, some aspects of that short period of time are far worse than what you had to go through..."

"_Where there is sentience, there will always be horror,_" recited the kind one slowly. "_Edward told me that when I first met him. I always remember that when I think about the injustices suffered by us, for our own people have our own histories of massacres and horrors much like this..._"

I sighed. "But it doesn't make our behavior all right," I replied. "If anything, it only makes it worse because you were expecting better treatment."

"_And you were expecting angelic music when we first came,_" retorted Jamecyn.

Blinking at how blunt her reply was, I glanced at her. "Point taken," I said a little nervously.

I then turned to Matthew, who had been silent the entire conversation.

"_Story man...?_" he asked me, concern ridden in his eyes.

Looking down at him, I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"_You seem so... hurt..._" he said simply. "_Are you okay?_"

I sighed, relieved to hear it was only a minor quibble. "No, I'm not hurt," I replied. "I'm just... thinking a lot. And my thoughts aren't always happy, you know... But I'll be fine, don't worry."

The child's mouthparts moved slightly, clicking together in approval as it layed down. "_Can you tell me the rest of that story?_" he asked.

"Of course," I said.

I then related the remaining twelve labors of Heracles, and how he overcame each obstacle that Hera would put in his way. This took a while as the labors are quite long stories in and of themselves, but when I finished with the labors he was still awake enough to hear the end of the tale. So I related how a centaur tricked a woman into dying Heracles' close with his blood, thus forcing Heracles to sacrifice himself to the gods, and how he became a demigod in the high folds of Mount Olympus.

And thus, I concluded the tale of Heracles. By the time I looked down, I saw that Matthew was already fast asleep. Concerned, I looked to Caroline.

"Caroline, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"_Anything at all_," she replied. "_What's the matter?_"

I indicated Matthew nervously. "I..." I began. "I'm worried about Matthew. I'm afraid of how he's growing up in this district... Growing up in all of this hate... It's..."

"_The children in the mothership had it just as bad,_" replied Caroline. "_My parent told me that it had to fight over my egg to make sure nobody tried to abort me. There was paranoia in there too._"

"But it must have been nowhere near this bad," I replied. "At least there they did not have to deal with an entire race that did these kinds of things to them..."

Caroline nodded softly. "_I don't believe it was,_" she replied. "_But I was not hatched on the mothership, so I would not know. These thoughts must only be mking it worse on you, however..._"

I nodded, pulling out my audio recording device. "Shall we continue the story then?"

"_Of course,_" said Caroline as I turned the device on.

* * *

**Quite some time later, Balgernon and Ganrel both eventually left the mountains. They wandered onto the battlefield on which a great battle had just taken place. The two of them looked at the site of the battle with aghast expressions on their faces. Their gazes did not wander far from the numerous ones that lay on the ground, dying or dead.**

**Slowly, and with great trepidation, the great one lead its companion forward slowly, the two of them looking at the devastation around them. Weapons were left discarded on the scorched earth, the foilage burning angrily. The stench of death pervaded the air.**

**In some ways, it reminded Balgernon a little too much of what had happened to its home. It was just thankful that the kind one was right by it, just as nervous as the great one was.**

**As they walked about the field of death without further delay, however, the sounds of the feet of grenwas* was heard in the distance. Both great and kind one paused suddenly, looking out into the fog that pervaded the air as they tried to make out who would ride such a beast. Their waiting was punctuated by trepidation, as they suddenly noticed forms approaching them in the fog.**

**And finally, a group of four riders came into view, circling around the great one and its companion. Weapons were raised at both of them, only increasing their insecurities. The two of them held their hands up as a gesture of surrender.**

**The riders simply smirked, jumping from their steeds. They then bound the two travellers with rope. Balgernon and Ganrel were dragged onto different steeds, both of them looking very afraid.**

**"Still alive, eh?" asked one of the riders tauntingly. "Let us take you to our lord and you decide whether death is worse than this!"**

**Balgernon moved to reply, but before he could he found himself silenced with a gag.**

**And so, the two of them were carried off to a camp they were not even familiar with. The only respite came when they were abruptly thrown into a heavily-guarded tent, one of what appeared to be several in the camp of the riders. It was the tent closest to the grand tent of what turned out to be the general of the army that captured them. Their weapons were in a cache all around the tent, and Balgernon could not help but place his antennae close to the tent folds.**

**Balgernon and Ganrel spent ten days in their prison, with scarcely anything to eat and only a cup to drink at the beginning of each day. Their hunger was great, and their thirst only more so. The suffering endured by both companions was horrible, and they were ever silent about it.**

**Every so often, one or the other would be dragged out of the tent for questioning. The great one could hardly call it that, however, as it was far more painful than what it imagined questioning would be. They were especially hard on the unfortunate one, who knew nothing of what the other army was attempting to do. And so, it recieved more abuse.**

**And when the torture was done, all Balgernon could do was cling to Ganrel tightly, the kind one being the only bright spot that the great one had left in its current state.**

**However, there was one advantage to this. Balgernon was right by the leader's tent, and so it heard everything that occurred in there. Ganrel was less intent to listen in, but the great one listened with great attention in case they said anything. The hostile one did talk extensively about a plan to conquer the opposing group. The meetings were the only thing to take Balgernon's mind off of both of their sufferings, and so it contented itself in this.**

**And so, life went, with Balgernon hoping to get out of the torture and to the other nation.**

* * *

"_And that is a good place to end..._"

I nodded, biting my lower lip nervously. "My..." I said. "I can't help but wonder... if your tales have unspeakable acts in them, then is what we're doing to you here...?"

"_That doesn't make it any less wrong,_" replied Caroline. "_But at the same time, it would certainly make it difficult for me to lecture you about it._"

I shook my head. "Honestly?" I said. "I believe that anything that can think can do horrible things... So really, I don't think there's anybody in this world or yours that can lecture us about complete justice."

Caroline nodded. "_True enough,_" she said.

"_Oh, I hope Wilbur's all right..._" added in Jonathan, almost from nowhere.

I looked to the injured poleepkwa and nodded. "Hey, you'll be all right soon enough, yes?" I asked. "I'm sure you will be heading back to Wilbur in no time. I mean, that wound has healed remarkably quickly!"

"_It has,_" replied the poleepkwa nervously.

"_Oh, come on, leave the worrying to David,"_ joked Jamecyn at her mate's expense.

"_J-jamecyn!_" stuttered David. "_I don't worry about you that much!_"

I couldn't help but chuckle at this. "And without evil, there can't be good," I added as a bit of an afterthought. "I will be leaving in two days. I trust we'll have the tale of Balgernon finished by then?"

Caroline shook her head. "_I'll have two installments waiting for you when you come back,_" she said.

"I see..." I said. "I shall see you over the next two days, then. Good night."

And with this, I left the tent, sneaking out in the middle of the night to return to my post.


	13. Reciprocity

All right, so we shall see an interludium chapter soon! Unfortunately, things might not work out completely to how Curtis envisions they will, but we'll see. That we shall.

So, anyways... Let's throw in some small filler while we wait for something exciting to happen, yes?

And while we're doing filler, I wonder.

* * *

Reciprocity

The next day passed by uneventfully. Harold did not call me into the district, for which I am thankful mainly because it allowed me to maintain my cover as going in there only when absolutely necessary. James would have been all right with it and Abejide would have been highly indifferent, of course, but if I knew the hyper-racists like I did then, I knew that they would buy into it. It also gave me some small relief from seeing what other horrors undoubtedly waited for me in there. I knew that the junk piles were already bad enough; I was partly afraid to see what else was in the district.

I would see it all eventually, however, as I knew they would call me in again.

It was in this state of mind that I went into my night shift. Marius was already there, waiting for my appearance. As soon as I arrived at my post, I looked out into the night.

"You know, I'm surprised nobody's caught on to your travels into the district yet..." he began.

"Well, you and I have been keeping our mouths shut, correct?" I asked.

Marius nodded. "And you have always avoided the search lights..." he added.

"Then our cover is good for now," I said, nodding as I turned to face my companion. "When something drastic enough happens, we will know."

The Afrikaaner nodded, then pointed a finger in my direction. "I'll bet the... erm... poleepkwans was it?"

"Yes," I replied, remembering when I had told him the term they preferred to be called by when I returned from that particular night shift.

"I'll bet they're thankful for your kindness..." he said. "And also for showing them that you are not complete monsters..."

I nodded. "I get the feeling that Edward wanted to believe that for the longest time," I said. "And he had no way of proving it to anybody. And then I came along, and suddenly he had that... And to think I would have been cheating them before..."

"That's only because of your original intent," said Marius. "But Caroline... I think she sees what else could occur because of this."

"My mother would always tell me that consequences are unpredictable..." I recited then. "She would always tell me that I could never be too sure, and told me to take risks on whatever possible, for we never know what could happen..."

Marius shrugged. "Risk is all over the place," he said. "Like, this scenario, where if you get caught by the searchlights or you go into the district too many times during the day..."

"I'm aware of what would happen," I replied. "Some people do when they wind up dying for their art." Here, I paused briefly, considering that suddenly there were indeed other factors going into play. "But as I've gone on... I think I've realized how... sentient they really are. They're just as human as we are. They're aware of what happens, they're aware of how things unravel, and they have emotions... If only other MNU workers would sit down with them and talk with them..."

My friend nodded. "I see what you mean," he said. "I only wish I could join you so I could meet these aliens... They all sound like really nice people if you get to know them."

I nodded, then. "I only hope that my story-gathering venture ends up helping them and their people some day..." I said, crossing my arms in front of me.

He only looked into the district, seemingly lost in thought as I prepared to go to Caroline's tent.

* * *

I walked slowly as I approached the tent, ducking in at the last possible second. When I did, I saw that Edward was up, which was a welcome change from the night before. Jamecyn and David were both asleep again, with Jonathan sitting by the side. Harold was now conveniently awake, as were Mark and Matthew. I looked around.

"So, Jonathan," I said. "You'll be leaving this tent soon, right?"

"_Of course,_" he said. "_Good thing, too; it's been getting awfully stuffy in here..._"

"_Oh, it's not that bad!_" retorted Mark from across the tent. "_It's actually pretty homely over here..._"

"_Thanks in large part to Caroline, mostly,_" Jonathan replied. "_Otherwise, I can't stand it in this place!_"

"At least you won't be confined here for much longer, eh?" I asked.

"_You can say that again,_" replied the poleepkwa that had gotten injured. "_But you know something? I'm going to miss most of the people here. The tents can all go to hell because they're exactl the same... But these guys... these guys are wonderful, you know..._"

"I'm sure you do your best, right?" I asked to the whole tent

When I saw heads nod around the tent, I smiled. "Funny you should say it like that," I said. "I was having a conversation with my friend Marius at my post concerning how my presence was affecting you."

Harold was the first to say something to this. "_Well, your presence is a constant reminder that not all humans are evil,_" he said.

"_It is hard to hang on to the idea that any sentient being could do this,_" said Edward. "_Many people think only your people can do this to us. And yet you are a reminder to us that just as all sentient beings, you are capable of at least standing back and looking at the grander picture. And for that, we are thankful._"

I nodded, realizing that Edward did have a point. I was the only human that showed them any kind of compassion. Granted, all I did during those first few weeks at the district was to listen to their problems, but on a certain level I feel as if that made it all the better for the aliens. This is all in retrospect, however, as then I had required a little more prodding towards this conclusion that I was in fact doing good by the poleepkwans.

"But I still don't feel like I'm doing much," I replied, looking down. "All I've been doing is listening to your troubles. I haven't had the chance to do something about it yet."

"_Your pain will never be understood until you reveal it to the world,_" replied Edward. "_On a certain level, talking about everything that happens to us alleviates the pain. It will not make it go away, but knowing that someone cares is good enough._"

I sat there silently for a few seconds, contemplating what the poleepkwan said. Nodding, I thought of the truth in it. "Well, they do say sometimes that talking about horrible things helps you forget..." I said. "So I guess that's a good thing."

I then turned my attention to Matthew.

"_Have you got a good story today?_" he asked. "_Your stories are really cool!_"

"Oh, there are plenty more where that came from," I replied. "You feel like hearing about more epic heroes?"

"_Oh, yes!_" he said, eyes dancing happily. "_This'll be great!_"

I nodded, and told him the story of Perseus. I can only describe the look on his eyes as I told him all of the exploits of that particular hero. At each progressively more fantastic feat, the boy's eyes widened in delight. The story was clearly exciting him, but I had never really cared to keep track of his facial expression since I was so wrapped up in telling the tale that I cared not about the effect it had on the recipient. And so when I saw Matthew's face, I had to force myself to keep going. The enthusiasm on his face was so grand that even as he drifted off to sleep I could see the faintest hint of what could only be described as a poleepkwan smile form on his mouthparts.

And as soon as he was fast asleep, I was silent for quite some time. Looking to Mark, I raised my finger.

"How often does he talk about my stories?" I asked.

Mark chuckled. "_You have no idea, Curtis,_" he told me. "_The stories you tell him are the only bright spots the poor kid gets in the district._"

Quite appalled at this, I reeled back slightly. "Are you being completely serious?" I asked.

"_I wish I was only kidding,_" replied the parent sadly. "_The poor kid has to see a lot in this district that no young one should have to see. When he's around us, he won't shut up about Heracles or Zeus or Perseus or this or that or the other..._" he paused briefly, and I noticed a hint of sadness flicker in his eyes for a brief period of time. "_It makes me so happy to see that he has something that can take his mind off of everything that happens here..._"

I nodded. "I see..." I replied. "If it comes as any comfort to you, I have almost millions more stories that I can tell him... And if I can get to do so, I will tell him every last story I know..."

Mark nodded. "_Thank you,_" he said. "_Nothing makes me happier than being able to see my youngling be happy..._"

Smiling just a little bit, I turned my attention to Caroline. "You've been strangely quiet this whole time," I observed.

"_I haven't had much useful to say,_" she said. "_Anyways, I guess you would like to hear the next part of the tale?_"

"Of course," I said, fumbling through my equipment for my recording device.

* * *

**One day, however, Baglernon's luck would change rapidly.**

**For then, the tent in which he and Ganrel were taken prisoner was opened suddenly. A rather intimidating one was thrown in with Balgernon and Ganrel, and then the tent was promptly closed.**

**However, when the stranger sat up from whence it was tossed in, Balgernon's eyes widened considerably upon recognizing who the stranger was.**

**"It's you..." said the great one, recognizing the strange one as the bandit that had spared its life in the desert sands.**

**Looking at Balgernon, the bandit blinked. Then, recognizing the fellow prisoner, the bandit's eyes lit up happily. And immediately, the great one noticed a great change in the bandit's attire; rather than the simple attire befitting of a bandit, the reverent one now wore a more royal dress with shades of valiant black running down its sides. Looking at the bandit king, Balgernon's eyes only widened in shock.**

**"You've changed a lot since last we met," observed the great one.**

**"Much change has occurred," replied the bandit king. "Your amulet has certainly blessed my silver coin with luck. For when I next came upon a crowd, it was a lesser one harrassed by barbarians much lower than I. So me and my bandits disposed of them. But the lesser one is a noble in the court of the queen on the other end of this war, and so it bestowed me and my men riches for saving its life. And I have pledged my service to the queen in gratitude for their kindness. As I said, luck is the greatest gift of all."**

**"I'll say..." replied Balgernon, nervously.**

**Ganrel asked the great one who the bandit king was, however, cutting their reminiscence short. After the introductions were made, however, the bandit king became serious. With a finger, its antennae went erect.**

**"I have been sent here on a mission," replied the bandit king. "Find out what the enemy's plans are, and return quickly. My men are waiting in ambush outside of the camp, waiting to rescue me. However, I can make sure they help you two out as repayment for blessing me with good luck."**

**"You would do that?" asked Balgernon.**

**"Of course," replied the bandit king. "But I wonder... have you heard anything?"**

**Balgernon nodded eagerly, Ganrel nodding briefly. "We have," replied the great one. "We can help you in your mission."**

**The bandit king nodded. "Then allow me to help you escape as payment for what you did for me."**

**"Of course," said Balgernon.**

**And the bandit king let out a loud series of chirps from within its tent. Before long, the sounds of a suprise battle were heard all around the tent, the sounds of lesser ones being trampled running rampant. Balgernon and Ganrel listened to it for a few minutes as the sounds became progressively louder.**

**And then, the opening to their tent was shredded open, and one of the bandits that Balgernon recognized reached in to the king. Without waiting for a reply, the one in charge of the attack motioned to the great one and its companion, and so the two of them were helped to their feet, their bindings undone.**

**All was a blur, and then the great one was riding the back of a great beast bestowed to the bandits by the king. And before long, both companions had left the enemy camps alive. Sighing in relief, Balgernon allowed himself to be carried off in the company of the one who had tormented him many days beforehand.**

* * *

"_And that should be good for now,_"

I nodded, stopping the recording. "That works wonderfully," I said. "Your tales are quite fascinating..."

"_I appreciate having a new audience to listen to them..._" she replied. "_Thank you for your company._"

I smiled in reply, looking to the rest of the tent. "Jamecyn was unusually quiet tonight..." I observed.

"_Jamecyn and David were engaging in certain lewd acts again..._" replied Harold.

I blinked uncertainly. "I thought your species could reproduce with only one person left..." I pointed out.

"_We can, but many don't,_" replied Jonathan. "_Jamecyn and David prove that at least once each week..._"

The talk about Jamecyn and David had begun to get a little unsettling for me, and so I chuckled nervously.

"Right..." I said, not feeling at all that comfortable amidst the talk of other people's sex lives. "I guess that would explain a few things, then. I'll see you guys tomorrow, and then I'm on weekend leave."

"_See you tomorrow,_" replied Caroline sweetly.

And I exited the tent slowly, making sure to avoid the searchlights.


	14. The Meeting with the Queen

Okay, maybe I lied. The tale of Balgernon should now end just after the interludium chapter. Which is good, because I can get out of the way to do other things.

Which will be especially helpful after the events of the next interludium chapter. You'll see in a minute.

At any rate... I guess we should see how Curtis gets sent off into his weekend leave. So, away chapter!

* * *

The Meeting with the Queen

On the day during which I would depart for leave, I felt a strange swirl of emotions overcome my being. Something about the whole thing felt overly surreal to me, and I attribute it to the fact that my mind would not stop wondering that day.

It was so during my day shift, when I seemed to be spacing out a little more than usual. James definitely took notice, and so he shook my shoulders repeatedly to make sure I was still alert. I was thankful for this, as being able to gain a weekend was beginning to get into my head a little more than usual. Even then, though, I still spaced out, paying no mind to the cloudy day as I thought about being able to think a little bit.

And finally, when I was particularly lost in thought, James had to pinch me in the arm. Looking at him, I yelped in pain as I held my arm where he pinched me.

"Are you okay?" asked the American expatriate nervously.

Rubbing my arm, I hesitated. "I'm not sure," I replied. "I'm going on weekend leave today, after all..."

"Weekend leave?" asked James, raising an eyebrow. "How's that supposed to get you into the kind of daydreaming you were just in?"

I shook my head. "I've seen things in the district that have made me think a little too hard," I said. "I guess, just finally being able to sort all of it out is getting to me a little bit."

The American patted my shoulder understandingly. "Don't let it get into your head too much," he said. "We still need you over here..."

"I know..." I replied, nodding. "I... I'm just unsure..."

Here, James gave me a questioning look, walking so that he stood by my side. "Why is that?" he asked.

"Well, both times I went into the district to break up a dispute, someone is always either already dead or they get killed," I replied. "I just wish there was something I could do about it all..."

"Just get there sooner," he replied, crossing is arms in front of me. "Maybe then things won't go so badly."

I looked down at the ground. Abejide was not far from where we were, but his attention was focused elsewhere. "I don't think it's that simple..." I said. "I'm beginning to have doubts about my employer... That incident where Abejide had to kill the alien wouldn't have happened if the poor things just had enough to eat. And I wish I could bring that up to MNU... I think I have a way to address it without making it seem like I'm trying to make life better for them... but if I mess it up, who's going to say what will happen?"

James seemed to know what the matter was instantly. Draping an arm over my shoulder, he looked out into the district in the same direction I did. "You really care about your friend in the district..." he noticed.

"More than I initially thought was possible," I replied. "When I first met Caroline, I figured I could just get some stories off of her. But as I've been sitting in her tent, talking with her and her tentmates, I've actually kind of grown to like them." I paused briefly, crossing my arms in front of me. "They're almost exactly like us. They've got feelings, they've got opinions, and they don't always agree. And... it always reminds me of a clan whenever I see them all together in that cramped tent. And honestly..."

The American nodded. "I take it you trust Marius with that kind of information..." he said. "But still, that's just because he is in your night shift. Curtis, just know that if there is anything at all you want someone else to know, you can also come to me, and I swear by my grandmother's grave I'll keep it a secret. All right?"

Looking to James, I nodded. "All right," I said. "I guess you don't have much of a problem with my telling you some things, eh?"

The American laughed. "Hey, I come from a land whose founding fathers said all men are created equal," he replied. "I'm not about to say fuck you to someone who needs an outlet to talk about what pisses him off over some stupid thing like... that word that begins with an x... Uh... I think it was..."

"Xenophobia," I replied without missing a beat. "Thanks, James."

"Hey, anytime," he replied.

And so, another bond of friendship was formed between me and a human working for MNU.

* * *

We had two convoys heading to Johannesburg on any given weekend leave, one that left late at night and the other that left the next morning. We were given the liberty to choose which convoy to board on depending on how things worked out. And so, I decided to take the morning convoy to Johannesburg. I wanted one final night with my poleepkwan friends before I left to clear my head a little, and I got it without even trying.

I slowly made my way to the tent that night, after having a brief discussion with Marius. I moved quickly into the district, taking care to move silently as I approached Caroline's tent.

When I arrived, everybody was up. It was exactly as I suspected things would be given that I would be going on weekend leave. Such gatherings were not uncommon for whenever I went on leave, and in this case Jonathan was still there, his leg having completely healed by this point.

"So I see I get a departure party..." I joked.

"_Yep_," replied Jamecyn. "_Always for the only human that we actually care about..._"

I glanced nervously to where I imagined Marius was at the moment. "Oh, well that's an injustice to my friend back at my post!" I replied. "Without him covering for me, I wouldn't be able to come here!"

"_Okay, maybe him..._" added David. "_But I'm not so sure we should add him yet since we haven't even met him..._"

"That is true..." I said. "But he's a nice bloke, I can tell you that much."

Edward looked at me intently from the back of the tent. "_Well, we'll miss your acts of kindness..._" he said. "_It's always good to have a reminder that not all of your kind is a complete monster._"

Looking to the poleepkwa, I knew what he meant. "Well, I just have a few things to think about and I will be fine," I said. "And I'll see to it about getting something done about the garbage dump problem."

Harold's antennae perked up upon hearing this, and so he tilted his head to the side. "_Well, how do you plan to tell him?_" he asked.

I shrugged. "If it even works, I'll complain about it on the basis that it smells bad," I replied. "And if that doesn't work... I'm not sure how else to approach the problem..."

"_The worst part is that it isn't even the worst that this damn place has to offer..._" added Harold.

"I get that feeling, yes," I replied. "A part of me is honestly dreading seeing what else lurks in there... but you never know until you try, right?"

"_If by 'try', you mean be more horrified than usual, yes,_" replied Mark. "_Some of the things seen in the district..._"

Shaking my head, I waved my hand in front of me. "Please," I said. "Don't give me that kind of hopeless talk. It's unbecoming for this kind of situation."

"_Still, it's depressing just thinking about it..._" said Mark.

"_Well, at least I can get out of here..._" I heard Jonathan click from my side.

"That is always a good thing," I said. "I trust you'll be all right with Wilbur?"

"_I should be..._" he replied. "_If not, you'll know. It's not him so much as your coworkers that create any problem in which he's a part of._"

I glanced to the side, remembering what Hendrik had told me the other day. "Well, they do say he is wanted," I said. "When I asked, they refused to specify exactly what. But that means that they think Wilbur is dangerous or something. Whether he actually is or not is something I will need to make up my mind on sometime in the future..."

"_I'm sure you'll like him,_" replied Jonathan with a nod. "_After all, he does try to make sure I'm okay if he is able to check up on me after our escapades..._"

I nodded and smiled at the not so injured poleepkwa as I turned to Matthew. My smile only intensified as I looked down on the eager child as he lay there waiting for me to tell a story.

"_Story man!_" he exclaimed happily. "_Does this mean I get another story?_"

"You better believe it is so!" I said.

And with that, I began to tell the story of the Trojan War. As I talked about the backstory and the gathering of the troops, I noticed that I too was feeling good about myself in every sense of the word. Watching Matthew's reaction to me telling the story was quite refreshing, and somehow I felt all the better as I told the tale. It invigorated me knowing that now my storytelling had a totally different effect from what I originally thought. When I first told the stories to Matthew, I was thinking of it as a subliminal way of exchanging stories. Now that I saw how they changed the life of a child, however, I had a very different look at how I told my stories. And in turn, it made me happy, so much that I felt a strange sense of euphoria when Matthew nodded off to sleep and I stopped telling the tale.

Looking to Mark, I nodded. "I certainly feel different about telling him the story," I said.

"_You certainly sounded different,_" he replied. "_It's like the happiness went both ways this time..._"

"_That it did,_" said Caroline. "_I can sense it already._"

I turned to the one that had been telling me the stories of her people, and nodded. "I wonder..." I said. "How do I get when you tell me a story?"

Caroline's eyes seemed to shine a little more brightly than usual in what little light there was. "_Almost exactly the same,_" she replied. "_I swear you get as giddy as a youngling most of the time!_"

"Do I really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I took out my recording device.

"_Yes,_" she replied. "_It has the same effect on me too, only... there's the dimension of the fact that you are a human added in..._"

"I see..." I said, nodding. "Well, let's continue where we left off, shall we?"

She nodded, and I turned the device on.

* * *

**After a journey lasting many days, the bandit king arrived at the queen's hive. Balgernon and Ganrel both rode behind the bandit king as they made their entrance into the hve.**

**It was a rather bright day, and Balgernon was ever curious. And so, the great one looked around the hive to see what happened around the people that had saved it.**

**The great one and the kind one both saw an array of people in various states of suffering. There were many in good standings, but even then the ones in a good state of living had given off an air of sadness. Balgernon noticed suddenly that there seemed to also be very few people on the streets of the hive.**

**It was then that the great one noticed the things hanging above most of the abodes in the area. Surprised at this, the great one blinked as Ganrel looked up. It too saw the arrangements of black leaves that were placed atop each home in the hive. Looking to Balgernon it felt the need to elaborate.**

**"Myrel wreaths..." said Ganrel. "During a time of war, they are hung over the abodes of soldiers lost to the battlefield... The wreath is supposed to be able to grant the soldier's soul access to Avehrecala with greater speed than normal..."**

**Ganrel's explanation was not what made the great one cringe. Rather, it was the sheer amount of wreaths hung over the tops of the houses in the hive that surprised him. Black foilage was hung all around the hive, a macabre reminder of the sacrifice the soldiers had given their people. In a way, it was overly heartbreaking for Balgernon to see all of the wreaths above it.**

**But in a different way, it strengthened the resolve of the great one. As it clutched the dragon's flute in its claws, the great one looked to the grand center of the hive, the bandit king leading them along as friends. It resolved then and there to help the people of the nation that had been kinder to it to the best of the great one's ability.**

**And then, Balgernon found itself in front of the queen, Ganrel by its side. The bandit king knelt in front of the ruler nobly, uttering a few titles. The queen then stood and eyed the great one with a kindly expression on its face.**

**"So you are the one whom blessed the king's coin with luck," began the queen graciously.**

**"Yes, my queen," began Balgernon. "I thank you for rescuing me and my companion here, even if that was not your intent."**

**"You are welcome," replied the queen. "You and your companion here have been journeying much, I see..."**

**"I hail from the wetlands to the east, and my companion Ganrel from the desert sands just beyond the mountains," said the great one. "We have been journeying much, and thank you for your kind greeting into your land that your opponent so fervently denied us..."**

**The queen looked at the great one. "I would imagine those ruffians would do such a thing," it said. "Now, I believe you had something to tell me?"**

**The great one nodded, and proceeded to tell the queen the opponents' strategy to win the war. At the end of the explanation, the queen nodded.**

**"I see..." it said. "Come. I shall have to formulate a new plan with my generals, and I want you and your companion present if you have any ideas..."**

**With this, Balgernon nodded, and then all of the people in the throne room left with the queen to form a new plan of attack against the inhospitable ones on the other side.**

* * *

"_And I shall end it here..._" replied Caroline.

I nodded, feeling a smile I didn't know I had formed when I heard the story. "And with that, I shall leave you. I trust you will be left in good hands?"

"_Of course,_" said Caroline. "_We'll survive, I can tell you that much._"

I nodded and looked to Edward. "Take care of everybody in this tent," I said. "Especially Matthew."

"I will," replied the poleepkwa with a nod.

With a smile, I slowly left the tent. I let out a sigh of contentment after evading a spotlight, and returned to my post to wait for the early morning bus.


	15. Interludium II

Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground!

Wow, I cannot get that song out of my head. It is so damn catchy it's almost ridiculous...

Anyhows, I think we've got some thinking to do, right?

Uh... right?

* * *

Interludium II

My plans were simple. Board the bus. Go home. Think a little bit. Come back. I could sum up my intents for the weekend leave in four very incomplete senences.

But, unfortunately, luck conspired against me, as I would find out the instant I arrived at the MNU headquarters.

Piet Smit was waiting for me outside, with a car right beside him on the road. When I walked up to him, he nodded in my direction, a relieved look on his face.

"Piet?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Hendrik didn't give you the message?" he asked.

I blinked, and then frowned at him as I crossed my arms. "Are you telling me you tried to send a message through him again?" I asked, making it clear that I was annoyed with his approach to talking to me.

At this, Piet rose an eyebrow. "You were annoyed by that?" he asked.

I blinked, suddenly forgetting about my temper. "Hendrik didn't tell you that I wanted you to come directly to me if you had a concern?" I asked.

"No, I'm afraid he didn't," replied the director. "I shall keep that in mind, then..."

"How do you contact him anyway?" I asked. "There's supposed to be no cellular connection to the district at all..."

"We're working on getting you guards that," replied the director. "We also hope to have internet access for all of you soon, so that won't be the case for much longer. Hendrik agreed to be a guinea pig for it, so I've contacted him with messages. Right now, you can expect good cellular reception down there in about two weeks..."

And suddenly, a new wave of thoughts hit my being, none of which I dared to voice in front of an MNU director. I thought of how unjust it was that we could have internet access and cellular phone access and yet watch the poleepkwans get nothing at all. This only served to make me angry, but I held it in as I was well aware of the consequences of what would happen if I lost my temper in front of Piet.

"Please, try not to relay messages through him in the future," I requested. "I absolutely hate it when people won't talk to me directly."

Piet simply nodded. "Duly noted," he said.

"Right," I said. "It's a good thing I wanted to go clear my head, then..."

Piet shook his head. "Unfortunately, it seems you won't get your head cleared all that much..." he replied. "Come on. Tania is waiting for you at Helen Joseph Hospital."

Upon hearing the word hospital escape Piet's lips, I instantly froze up. "Hospital?" I asked. "What the bloody hell happened to her?"

"It's nothing," replied Piet. "She'll be out soon enough."

"But still!" I replied. "She's in the hospital! What happened?"

The director raised an eyebrow. "She didn't tell you?"

"Uh... well, not really..." I admitted, holding my hands together as I gave a sheepish expression. "We did have a little friction between ourselves at first, so that probably has something to do with it..."

"Then she'll be waiting for you in the maternity ward," replied Piet as he stepped to the other side of the vehicle.

I blinked in shock, not believing what I just heard. "Maternity ward?" I asked. "Did I hear you correctly?"

"Yes," said Piet as he opened the door on his side of the vehicle. "She's expecting you to come soon."

I stood there for a few seconds in disbelief over what I had just heard.

And then, the realization hit me ridiculously hard.

* * *

When I arrived at the maternity ward, I was almost immediately whisked to Tania's room before I could ask to talk to Piet. The nurses literally threw me into the room, and as they closed the door behind me, I looked back and brushed some dust off of my uniform and looked to the bed.

Tania looked a little tired, gazing at me as I stood in the room. She did seem to be doing better, though, as she was sitting up in the bed in the small, barren room. There was silence between us for a brief period of time, and I simply stood there looking at her.

Finally, I walked towards the bed, pulled a chair over, and sat down by the bed, leaning forward and putting my elbows on my knees. Tania turned her head to the side slightly, breathing in and out slowly as she worked her fingers into motion. Even then, there was still an uncertain silence between us, and I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. I got the courage to speak up, however, and so I spoke.

"So, when were you planning on telling me that you were pregnant?" I asked.

Tania snorted very softly in reply. "I should think it was pretty obvious," she replied. "I was pretty... fat, you know."

"Clarification would have helped a little bit," I replied. "But honestly, that's not so much of a problem when you think about it."

"So, you're not angry?" she asked innocently.

"No," I said, clasping my hands together. "I'm terribly annoyed, but not angry. I came here hoping to clear my head a little and now I have to deal with... this..."

"You'll still get time," she replied. "The baby was born three days ago, so I should be ready to head home tomorrow."

I nodded, rubbing my chin. "I see..." I said. "I thought you said you'd never speak to... him-who-must-not-be-named.."

Tania shrugged. "Well, some things can't be helped," she replied.

I nodded. "So..." I said. "This baby of yours... is it your husband's?"

Tania glanced down sadly, and I immediately regretted asking. Nevertheless, she nodded as she looked up. "I believe so," she said. "I have been pregnant since November. I was planning on telling him after a surprise party celebrating his promotion... but that went so terribly wrong..."

"Promotion?" I asked.

The woman nodded softly. "He worked at MNU before he just disappeared from my life," she replied. "He had been put in charge of the field operation to evict every alien from District 9..."

"And then all that fighting happened," I added. "So I take it your husband was Wikus van de Merwe?"

"Yes," replied Tania. "I don't believe what MNU tried to say to get him captured... it's silly--"

"You don't have to remind me," I replied, shaking my head. "I was studying abroad here when it all happened."

At this, Tania raised an eyebrow. "Truly?" she asked.

"Yep," I replied. "I actually met he-who-must-not-be-named when one of my friends here invited me to a formal dinner where he was present. One talk about mythology later..."

"...And then he sent you here with me..." she replied.

Sighing, I nodded. "If I had known that he was trying to get me to replace your husband, I would have refused his offer..." I said. "Unfortunately, it's too late to do anything about that now..."

Tania smiled softly, shaking her head as she sat up slightly. "Thinking about it a little harder, it's not so bad," she replied. "Because at least this way I have someone who knows I'm not crazy."

Chuckling, I nodded. "Especially if me almost bumping into Wikus the other night says anything," I replied, smiling slightly.

Tania nodded, and then we ended up talking about Wikus, and I learned a lot more about him than I likely would have otherwise. I found out exactly how sweet he was, and how he would always make home-made objects for her when he was still there. (That solidified my belief that Wikus was indeed hiding somewhere.) It was a joy to hear about Wikus, but at the same time it made me a little depressed to know that Piet was trying to replace him with myself, someone who knew so much less about how to be a good, loving husband to her.

It only made me stand firmer in my drive to not try to replace Wikus in Tania's life.

* * *

A few hours later outside of her room, Piet approached me with a nod. I was sitting in the waiting room waiting for Piet to come out of a discussion with one of the doctors about Tania. What they said, I will never know, but I know that it was undoubtedly harmless information if what Tania said later would attest to. But at the moment, I crossed my arms and looked up at him with a curious expession on my face.

"So, how are things between you and Tania?" he asked.

I nodded. "I appreciate that you went to me yourself this time," I said. "Things are going swimmingly, thank you."

"Swimmingly?" asked Piet. "What does that mean?"

"It means they're going relatively well," I clarified.

Piet nodded solemnly. "That's good," he said. "I hope they continue to improve from there."

I then remembered that I had to somehow get Piet to handle the garbage in the district. Clearing my throat, I looked up to Piet.

"Oh, Mr. Smit," I said. "I wanted to ask you something..."

Slowly, the director at MNU nodded. "What did you want?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Man, I hate having to resort to nepotism to ask you this... but... would you be able to do something about those garbage piles in District 10?"

At this, Piet rose an eyebrow. "Garbage piles?" he asked.

I nodded. "They are all over the place," I said. "I've seen them all over the district at odd spots..." I brought my hand to my chin, pondering a little. "I just can't stand the smell is all... and it also could be distracting and could impede my work in the district if I ever have to navigate around one of them while pursuing someone who does something wrong... So I ws hoping to get something done about it."

It was all a lie of course, but a white lie as well. Truth was, I really was bothered a little by the stench in the district. My nose got used to it after a while, but it was still something that was drilling holes into the back of my mind every time I entered the district for my shift given that it always got stronger when I entered.

"Hm..." replied Piet, rubbing his chin. "Well, there is the problem of wondering whether everybody feels the same way you do... And then there is the fact that I would have to hire people to run through the district with a few guards to clean the place up at the end of every week..."

I rose my eyebrow, hoping for the best. "So you'll consider it?" I asked.

"Certainly," replied the director. "Of course, I'll take a survey of the other workers first, and if a majority of them are as annoyed about these piles of rubbish as you are, then I shall implement measures."

I nodded, secretly rejoicing to myself that the surroundings the poleepkwa were in would be a little more sanitary than before. "Thank you," I said.

The director smiled at me softly. "You're welcome," he said. "Now, you should probably go to your house, eh?"

A note of concern washed itself through my being, and I looked to my boss. "What about Tania?" I asked. "Will she be all right?"

"The doctors say I can take her home tomorrow morning with the baby," he said. "You shall see her and the child tomorrow."

Grateful for the explanation, I nodded. "All right," I said. "I'll see the three of you tomorrow then."

And I stood up, allowing Piet to escort me down the stairs for my ride. As I moved along, I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable at the fact that I was playing a wierd kind of mole against him.

* * *

When I arrived back at the van de Merwe residence a short while later, Piet left me at the front door and drove off. I nodded as I looked to the door.

Looking down, however, I saw another rose made of scrap metal sitting on the welcome mat. Bending down, I picked it up gingerly, twirling it briefly in my hands. I knew that somehow Wikus had arrived, but had not known of his child. And so, I entered Tania's house with the key that Piet had given me and walked in.

I looked at the stairs nervously, but decided better against leaving the rose on the bed. Ultimately, I settled for hiding the rose in one of the drawers of the kitchen, making a mental note to show it to Tania a little later.

With that, I looked around the house, finding a pen and paper and sitting on the couch. Looking down at the paper, I began to write a note, that reads thusly:

"_Mr. van de Merwe,_

_I can tell you that this is not what it looks like. Another man moving in with your wife is something to be quite worried about, yes, but in this case you have nothing to fear. If I had known that Piet Smit was attempting to replace you with my presence, I would never have agreed to move in with your wife. As things are, however..._

_I will offer you assurance, however; I promise by the river Styx that I will make no move to replace you in her life. Until such a time that you decide to return, I will stay as far from a romantic involvement with your wife as possible. This much, I promise._

_Oh, and I thought you might want to know that Tania gave birth to a baby boy. She named him Renier, and... well, she's still holding on to the hope that you'll return someday. So please, don't put her through any more suffering here._

_-Curtis Archibald Bax_"

Looking at the note, I nodded, folding it up and putting it in my breast pocket before laying down on the couch and turning the TV on.

* * *

When Tania arrived home the next day, she carried the baby boy in her arms, and Piet and I had a brief talk before he left us to ourselves. We had since spent the rest of the day just talking about unrelated things, mostly about what I was really there for. She took great interest in my quest to gather the lore of the aliens, and she had agreed to keep her mouth shut about my intentions to her father especially given that she had renewed her vow never to speak to him again.

It was then that I showed her the note I had written to Wikus. She read the note through once, and smiled upon reading much of it. However, right before she finished reading it, she frowned slightly and turned to me.

"Archibald?" she asked. "Your middle name is Archibald?"

Relieved that it was not a part of the note itself, I shrugged. "I was born in Great Britain, what did you expect?" I asked.

"In Scotland," she rebuffed. "I was half expecting your middle name to be Angus."

I shook my head, glancing to the side with a peeved expression on my face. "My father was born in Ireland, actually, and moved to Scotland as a little boy. He was also the grandson of someone born in London, so that would explain a few things..."

"Well, you have to admit, your name isn't entirely British as I would think of it..." admitted Tania.

I shook my head, smiling. "Probably because it isn't," I said. "My mother was actually born in America."

"Ah!" replied Tania. "But I wonder... how did your parents meet if she's from America and he's from Ireland?"

"University," I replied, smiling. "I remember they tell me that they had both gone to school in Boston. Not from the same school, but it's such a large town for universities that it was only a matter of time honestly."

Tania nodded, looking at me. "Makes me wonder how you and your brother attained your talents..."

"The Baxes are a very strange bunch, I can tell you that much," I replied cheerfuly.

She nodded, and then held her hands out in front of her, wondering what else to say. She looked over to where the baby laid in its new cradle in the kitchen. Inhaling deeply, Tania looked at the cradle.

"Wikus would have been so happy..." she said simply. "But he's not here... for some reason I don't know about..."

"He'll be back," I said. "Someday, he'll return, and he'll see the baby there."

Tania shrugged. "I just hope it's sooner than later," she said. "I'm afraid of having to raise this baby all by myself. But that's all right. You can help me, right?"

Raising an eyebrow, I shifted in my seat. "It might betray what I said in the note, but if you really want it, I'll help," I said.

The Afrikaaner smiled softly. The baby slept calmly on as we continued talking for most of the rest of the day.

* * *

When I had to return to the compound the following Sunday, I said a few goodbyes to Tania. I also told her that I would be available

And throughout most of Sunday, I finally had an opportunity to clear my head of the whole ration mess. Tania had left me alone for most of it to settle some things she needed to get done, and so I was left to sit on the couch and think.

I finally did come to the conclusion that ultimately, there was really no point in attempting to figure out where the suffering originated from. The fact was that there were many factors filing into it did not help at all. There was much in the sensitive racial politics of South Africa even before the poleepkwans had arrived that pointed to this, and there was the matter of the fact that whatever had caused them to leave their planet was probably not a good thing.

And so, I decided that the only thing I could really do was to try to improve their lives; I had the trust of a few of the aliens, so I would know exactly what they needed, and I had the trust of Piet Smit to pull some strings in case the problems were on a grander scale.

And so, I returned to the district, next wondering where Wikus had wondered off to.


	16. Balgernon's Redemption

Okay, so Tania was apparently pregnant. Yep, things are about to get crazy...

But other than that, life goes on. Let's get Curtis back into the district, shall we?

* * *

Balgernon's Redemption

I returned to the district to see people going about handing fliers around. I assumed that they were the surveys that Piet had told me he would hand around, and so I smiled lightly.

As I made my way to my tent, however, I bumped into Marius. He was holding one of the survey papers in his hand, and he was smiling at me goofily. We walked to the tent, and then we both sat down, making sure that nobody else could walk in.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" he asked.

"Possibly," I said.

He shook his head, setting the paper down. "You know, I'm wondering what your friends will say to you trying to starve them a little more first so they can start handing out more rations..."

I rose an eyebrow at this. "How did you know that was my plan?" I asked.

The Afrikaaner shrugged. "I just guessed," he said. "Given that there are only so many ways you can talk about stuff like that without seeming like a sympathiser."

"That is true..." I observed. "But it's a plan full of uncertainties. It is honestly a major gambit, and it's based on the assumption that they will do that when things go bad..."

Marius shrugged. "If nothing else, it'll have to be done to appease the civil rights groups," he said. "Remember that the rations are handed out entirely by volunteer efforts from some people from South Africa. If they want to save face after the experiment fiasco, then they will have to do it eventually to stop the complaints from the volunteers that some of them ae starving."

"That's true..." I said. "I never thought of it that... wait, MNU is leaving the rations up to them?"

"Again, they had to save face _somehow_," replied the Afrikaaner. "So they agreed to let volunteers hand out the rations. Saves them the money of having to pay for the workers."

Here, I smiled coyly, knowing right then and there that my plan would work, assuming people were as annoyed as I was. "Of course," I said. "Now let's just hope we can get enough votes to get MNU to do something about this."

Marius nodded, and then he looked out of the tent flap. He turned his head back to me and gestured. "Oh, by the way, we're supposed to be having a briefing in an hour. Something about communications."

Smiling, I crossed my arms in front of me. "I think I already know what it might be about..." I said.

* * *

We were later filed into the briefing room just before my night shift with Marius. We were both anticipating this, and James had come to sit by us. The other guards got into the tent, and then we all looked at the sergeant as he nodded to us all.

"Right," said the sergeant. "Now, as you all know, we have been unable to get cellular reception in the district, and we have been at a loss to tell people when we arrive for weekend leave. Am I right?"

Heads nodded all around us. The sergeant took note of this, and continued.

"All that, is about to change soon," he said. "I would like to take this time to tell you that we have been testing cellular reception here, and we have been successful. So, starting tomorrow, we will form a line to distribute cellular phones."

A murmur went around the crowd, and some of them seemed to be quite happy about this development. I crossed my arms, having heard about it all from Piet earlier.

"As well, we are working on internet access here in the district," continued the sergeant. "As such, we will soon be able to have not just internet, but wireless as well!"

At this, I tensed slightly, looking to Marius. The Afrikaaner looked at me, noticing my mischievous grin.

"You're not thinking..." he said.

"Yes I am," I replied, smiling.

James took notice of my smile, and shook his head. "You sneaky bastard..." he said, chuckling.

"But how are you sure the signal will even be caught?" asked Marius.

Before I coud reply, the briefing went on. "As such, we will allow you to bring laptops with wireless capabilities from now on. We shall see more of this as the men back at HQ give us more updates. For now, though, we have some communication! Now you boys can go out tonight, and be careful of those prawns!"

And with that, the meeting was adjourned. And so, James, Marius and I walked out of the tent, the two of them looking at me in disbelief.

"Well, what do you hope to do with that anyway?" asked Marius.

I shrugged. "I imagine some of the people in the tent would like to see the rest of the world..." I said. "So I'll do what I can to bring it to them, via the internet."

James rose an eyebrow. "I can really buy into that," he said. "Trouble is, how do we know the signal will reach that big a distance from the central tent to the district itself?"

Blinking, I looked to James. "Oh, come on, you really think they're going to put the hotspot at the end of the camp?" I asked. "Those closest to the district wouldn't get any signal at all!"

"That is true," said Marius as we walked along. "They'll have to put it somewhere where everybody can access it. And seeing as how most tents are closer to the district, we might just get lucky."

James nodded uncertainly. "This is beyond nuts, Curtis..." he said.

I chuckled good-naturedly, knowing that I would have gotten that reaction eventually. Smiling, I looked to the American.

"It gets better."

* * *

Sharing my night shift with Marius that night was interesting, to say the least, given that we were both mulling over what could happen with the internet. It was such that I almost missed running to the tent before the search lights went on.

But, thankfully, I was within the district shortly afterwards, meandering through the tents to get to the one I knew would house Caroline and the aliens I had befriended over the past few weeks. And when, I arrived, I opened the tent flap.

There waiting for me were my friends, as always. Caroline and Edward were both still up, with Matthew looking at me eagerly. Looking around the tent I took note that Jonathan had left by that point, which had given Jamecyn and David a little more room to move. Harold was gone, with Mark sitting by his child, as all of them seemed to have looked up from something. Looking at the ground, I suddenly noticed playing cards. Raising an eyebrow, I looked at them.

"Who got you the playing cards?" I asked.

"_Wilbur,_" replied David with a shrug. "_I don't know where he got these, though, because they're not totally dirty..._"

"I see..." I said, rubbing my chin. "It's good to be back here again..."

"_It is good to see you again,_" Edward stated in reply. "_How did your thinking go?_"

I sighed, sitting in the tent. "Well, I wasn't able to do as much of it as I had hoped..." I said. "The person I'm staying with in Johannesburg had given birth to a baby and I spent most of my leave making sure she was all right..."

All eyes turned to me. "_That's... all right, I guess..._" said Caroline nervously.

"But I did manage to get some done..." I said. "And... well... there's too much going on to be able to figure out one specific cause of all this... So it made me wonder... Do any of you know what exactly happened in your home world that got you to evacuate to this place?"

All eyes in the tent blinked tentatively, and everybody gave me a look of confusion.

"_You're the first human I've _ever _met that's asked that,_" said Mark. "_I wish I was kidding._"

I blinked, looking at the parent in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that nobody's cared to ask where you come from?" I asked incredulously.

"_Unfortunately, it is true..._" said Edward. "_As it is, however... I feel very uncomfortable talking about it now_..."

I rose an eyebrow, taking note of this. "So you know what happened in your home world, then..."

_"Partly_," replied the grander poleepkwan. _"It's been so long ago that it's only a memory. Not to mention I was only one lunar cycle old when I was ushered onto the mothership_..."

"I see..." I said, noticing the slightly uncertain tone in his clicks. "Hm... Maybe you could tell me on your own time?"

Edward nodded, his eyes gleaming in appreciation. "_I thank you for your understanding,_" he said. "_Such a thing is not very easy to talk about..._"

I chuckled. "Oh, dear, now you're making the suspense a bit much," I said.

Jamecyn chortled, mouthparts moving rapidly. "_You're one to talk,_" she said. "_We've been waiting years for someone to finally treat us like we're the fucking same..._"

Nodding, I looked at the greenish poleepkwa. "Indeed," I said.

I then looked to Matthew, who seemed more eager than ever to hear a story that I would tell. We went through our usual pre-story conversation, and then I proceeded to tell him the story of Theseus and the minotaur. As I told the story, I paid attention to each fluctuation on his face as he laid transfixed in wonder. The child was very innocent, and as I told the story, I felt great pity for him having to live with everything around him. And so, when I finished the story, I nodded sadly, looking to the others as the boy slowly fell asleep.

"You know..." I said. "It's depressing that he has to grow up in this..."

"_It's not like we have another option,_" replied Mark.

"That's what makes it so depressing, though..." I said simply. "It's that you don't have any other option..."

Caroline nodded. "_I can see your concern, then..._" she told me simply. "_But... is there something else you want to tell us...?_"

I nodded, smiling softly.

"I got one of the MNU directors to take an initiative to do something about those trash piles."

All eyes darted to me. "_You're... you're kidding!_" said Mark, shock showing clearly in his eyes.

I shrugged. "I'm staying with his daughter in Johannesburg," I said. "If you have concerns that annoy us too, and if I can successfully _not_ sound like a sympathizer, I can get him to do basically anything you guys ask me to. So I'm hoping that not only will it make the place a little more sanitary, but that also it'll nudge MNU to increase the rations handed out..."

Jamecyn snickered almost wickedly. "_I think I like your thinking..._" she said.

"_But how are you sure it's going to work?_" asked Edward.

Shrugging, I looked to them. "Well, a friend told me that outside parties distribute the rations," I said. "MNU will have no choice but to hand out more rations once they start to take notice that we're starving."

"_Wait, so MNU doesn't hand out the rations themselves?_" asked David.

"No," I said. "Apparently, it helps them save money."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "_That explains why they're more willing to follow protocol, then..._" she said simply.

"That's assuming that the rest of the guards are as annoyed as I am about the trash, though," I said. "So cross your fingers and hope that these people are as annoyed about the stench as I am."

"_That is a good thing,_" said Edward. "_Anything else?_"

I nodded again. "I things go as well as I hope they will, I might be able to show you the rest of the world, right from this very tent."

All eyes suddenly took on a confused tone. "_How?_" asked David.

"MNU's been working on getting us access to communications," I began. "So, starting tomorrow, I will have a small phone I can take wherever I want. And then, they've also been working to get us wireless internet. And if the signal can reach into the tent..."

They all seemed to understand my meaning. No doubt the poleepkwans had heard about the internet many times before, given that their website had bits of information that could only be divulged to them and they also posted job offerings for poleepkwans there before the move to District 10. But very few of them had actual access, and I would eventually hear stories from someone who will not be named at the moment that there were so few in District 9 that had internet access that they began to charge others who wanted to use it. The Nigerians had even added it to their list of services with which they amassed alien weaponry; as such, internet was a major treat among them.

This is what I believe had caused Edward to frown. "_You know how dangerous that is, right?_" he asked.

"How so?" I asked. "I only need to smuggle in a laptop."

"_Not what I meant,_" replied Edward. "_How are we supposed to ensure your safety if you bring the internet over?_"

Looking around the tent, I shrugged. "Who's the strongest one here?" I asked.

"_Harold_," they all replied.

I rose an eyebrow. "Really?" I asked.

"_He knows how to fight with his limbs,_" replied Caroline. "_That makes him deceptively strong._"

I was suddenly quite glad that my brother had me sit through all of those Jackie Chan movies when I was younger, since I knew what they were talking about. "All right then..." I said. "So, we have him make sure that no intruders come in..."

The others nodded. "_Good,_" said Caroline. "_Now, I believe I have to conclude the tale of Balgernon, yes?_"

"Yes, I believe you do," I said, pulling out my audio recording device and pressing record twice.

* * *

**When the new plan was formed, the queen sent Balgernon and Ganrel out with her greatest troops to thwart the enemy. The great one had its bone flute ready to use, and Ganrel held its dagger to itself as they approached.**

**And so, they waited for the enemy to arrive. As Balgernon expected, they went down the sides of the mountain, towards their own encampment. Confusion set in for the malevolent side, however, for they found nothing in there at all. It was then that Balgernon and the group of generals swooped in, with their forces defeating the malevolent side easily. The great one and the kind one were both swift in battle, defeating soldiers as well as the other generals of the queen's army.**

**But this was not the last of them, for Balgernon knew that a larger force would soon come. And as their forms appeared in the horizon, Balgernon took its bone flute and blew into it as hard as the great one could.**

**And true to its word, the dragon of the volcanoes swooped down on the field of battle, helping the armies of the benevolent side defeat the opposing armies. The two companions were true and steady to the forces of their side, and so the army was defeated very easily, such that they were able to deal with more waves of enemies that came afterwards. Bravely, the great one and its companions fought against the malevolent side, striving for independence from the woes that had caused grief to more nests than what would otherwise have occurred.**

**And finally, when the opposing army had taken enough of a beating, their leaders finally marched forward carrying a great pole in the shape of a cross. The leaders surrendered, and there was much rejoicing.**

**And thus, Balgernon saved the kingdom from destruction.**

**Ganrel was quick to look to Balgernon. The kind one had heard of Balgernon's history from the great one itself, and so it knew that the great one was possibly feeling great. And so, the kind one asked its companion if it felt that Balgernon had truly redeemed itself.**

**Balgernon's reply was simple; it did feel redeemed.**

**The realm that Balgernon assisted thus returned to a time of peace. The queen, gracious in its ways, was ever thankful to the stranger from the wetlands for aiding it in the war it would have lost otherwise, and it was wont to grant the great one any wish it wanted. The queen promised Balgernon mountains of gold if he asked.**

**The great one was only content to live the rest of its life in peace. The queen was reasonable, and granted Balgernon and Ganrel this simple wish.**

**And so, Balgernon would spend the rest of its days with its beloved close to the kingdom in a small nest by the grand lake in the realm. The bandit king stayed close by the realm, assisting the queen with anything. Balgernon and Ganrel simply stayed loyal to the kingdom as mates, with the dragon at a moment's call in case anything else were to happen. It was thus, that the great one enjoyed the remainder of its days forever after.**

* * *

"_The end..._"

I nodded slowly, hitting stop on the recording. I looked to Caroline once before nodding.

"So I take it that this marks the end of the tale of Balgernon?" I asked.

The poleepkwa nodded before crossing her arms. "_I hope it wasn't too boring._"

"Tales from another world? Boring?" I asked, giving her an odd look. "The day that ceases to be interesting to me is the day I can no longer be called Curtis Bax."

A few chuckles went around the tent, and then Edward looked to me. "_So, when can we expect the internet...?_"

"A few weeks, if we are lucky," I replied with a nod. "They're still working on it. And even then, that is only if we can catch the signal from all the way out here."

The others nodded, and then they all looked to me. "_We will pray to Boreal that it happens,_" said Caroline.

I rose an eyebrow. "Uh... Who's that?" I asked.

"_We have begun to approach tales that talk about our gods,_" said Caroline. "_I think it is time you learned about the pantheon next time you came."_

I nodded. "I see..." I said, moving to leave the tent. "I shall see you tomorrow, then. Hopefully, with good news..."

And Caroline's eyes shone brightly as I exited the tent, maneuvering through searchlights to return to my post.


	17. The Loving Creator of Puppets

And, more stuff happens. So, Curtis gets stuff done. We hope, right?

Am I the only one who isn't outlandishly excited by District 9 getting an Oscar nomination? For _Best Picture_, no less? Yeah, I didn't think so either. Power to Niel Blomkamp: he got an Oscar nod on his feature film debut! Seriously, Niel! Congratulations!

Anyways, I think we should continue, yes? Let's go along and see some things...

* * *

The Loving Creator of Puppets

* * *

The next day, I went to pick up my cellphone from the line. It was rather long, honestly, and there were many things with the line when Hendrik came to me in the line.

He looked at me with a slight frown on his face as he approached, which I instantly took as a good sign. Looking to Hendrik, I nodded.

"Good morning, Hendrik," I said, smiling. "You have something to tell me?"

The Cape Town native shrugged tentatively as he looked at me, and then gestured to the line.

"Have you gotten your cell phone yet?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "No," I replied. "But if it's something from Piet, I'll be willing to forgive this one incident given that you at least asked if I had gotten my means to communicate with him directly." Shrugging, I continued. "So, what is it?"

The Afrikaaner shrugged. "Piet wanted me to tell you some stuff about the surveys going around," he said. "He told me to tell you that most of the people here agree with you, and that they're going to do something about the trash.

That alone was enough to make my day quite happy. Secretly, I was elated, for I figured that soon my gambit would pay off with better results for the poleepkwans. But I did not show it in front of Hendrik, and I simply nodded.

"I'll call him after I get my phone," I said with a smile. "It would be good to thank him with it, at any rate."

The Afrikaaner shrugged. "To be perfectly honest, I was kind of getting annoyed by those garbage piles too," he said. "It makes chasin' those damn things close to impossible... It's good you brought it up, albeit for different reasons than us."

I nodded, glad to know he had not caught on yet. "Any time," I said. "Thank you for telling me."

Hendrik nodded with a smile. "No problem," he said simply, before walking away.

Smiling, I walked to the front of the line slowly and recieved my cell phone. It was a rather sleek Blackberry model with the keyboard that was surrounding the numberpad. This came as a big deal for me, seeing as how I had never quite mastered the art of text messaging on numberpads, and I was thankful for it. I turned the phone on, and was relieved to find that the MNU company had already programmed Piet and Tania's numbers into the phone. All that was left was to program a few other numbers into the phone and I would be quite set with that.

But I would do that later, when I had gotten internet access. For then, I knew I had to call Piet to thank him.

And that is what I did. I waited for a few seconds as I heard the dial tone. And then, he picked up.

"Piet Smit, MNU offices. How may I help you?" asked Piet's voice.

"Hello, Piet," I said. "It's Curtis talking."

"Ah, I see you got your new phone..." he said simply. "Did Hendrik tell you yet?"

I nodded. "He did," I said. "I'll forgive him this instance seeing as how you would have told me in this call anyway. So, when do they get started?"

"We're hoping to begin the clean-up early next week," he replied. "I was honestly surprised by how enthusiastic the response for the clean-up was; approximately 87 percent of all those asked agreed with your standpoint."

At this, my eyes widened in shock. I had been expecting some kind of positive feedback, but I was certainly not expecting the response Piet gave me. I honestly thought he was joking for a brief second, but after the information was digested in my brain, I realized he was not kidding.

"87 percent?" I asked in disbelief. "Did... did I hear you properly?"

"You did," he said smugly. "In fact, about 30 percent of those that said they would be willing to participate in a clean-up. MNU offices will contact them later at the end of the day, and depending how things happen that will be most of our workforce right there. All that is left then is to find a way to get the garbage away from the district and to install a system of trash bins and biweekly collections to ensure that we can avoid a permanent inconvenience for all of you and we will be set."

I smiled and nodded. "Excellent!" I said. "Thank you very much, sir!"

"No, thank you for bringing this to our attention," he said. "If I had known the guards would be as annoyed as they are with the stench, I would have done something earlier."

I nodded, rolling my eyes while thinking about how true that was. "Unfortunately," I said. "Well, I have this number if you must contact me, all right?"

"All right," replied the director. "Good day."

"Buh-bye," I said simply.

And the conversation ended. Merrily, I moved to my day shift humming a short little tune to myself.

* * *

As Piet had predicted, the clean-up of District 10 had begun at the beginning of the next week. I would later find out that MNU had assembled the resources later than he would have liked, but it was still good for all of us. The workers had all approached the piles with some trepidation, holding the cleaning equipment and using it quite gingerly as they worked at the piles. Cleaning up the entire district was a more daunting task than originally thought, so they ended up devoting two days to that task alone.

While they were taking care of that, the first garbage collection bins were installed throughout the district. It was a slightly difficult process given that they had to make the bins sturdy enough to keep the poleepkwans from turning them over and making the district dirty, but they managed to get it done. I was often wont to wander the district when they were installing the bins, and sure enough they were very hard to lift and topple over.

The whole clean-up took about four days to put together. And by the end of it, the system they had concocted was running quite smoothly. There was a transition period of about a week where the poleepkwans were getting used to the fact that they had to put their trash in bins, but they caught on quite quickly and soon enough only a minor clean-up job from some of the guards was needed to keep the district entirely clean. Within a period of two days, the district was already beginning to smell much better than it had, and for this the guards seemed to be put in a fairly elevated mood.

It would be another week before the rights groups that handed out the rations to the aliens began to notice that they were starving. They were pretty insistent in their reports about how some of them seemed to be more emaciated than ever, and so MNU gave them the right to double the rations handed out (if only because the directors were afraid of the repercussions if the rights groups told the outside world that they were starving in District 10). The rights groups jumped on that chance really quickly, and so they began to hand out progressively more rations with what little funding they had. Thankfully, there was a slight increase in their donations, and so the rights groups were eventually able to hand out more rations than they had before. And in this term, the poleepkwans were greatly satisfied.

I will admit to a guilty pleasure here; for once, I had pride in my employers. I had seen how well they could do for the poleepkwans in their best moods. I was quite happy for the poleepkwans, and they seemed to be a little more compliant. And so, from that, everybody benifitted, even MNU.

But at the same time, I always keep in mind that they would not have done it for any other reason than the fact that the garbage was annoying the guards as well. They would not have done the same efforts for others if not for me saying something, and I speculated that this would likely be the last act of kindness MNU would ever give them.

My speculation would turn out to be correct. But for then, I took the euphoria assosciated with having done something right. I took it in, knowing that it would likely be the last rush of MNU-induced happiness I would feel.

* * *

Around a week after they had finally increased the amount of rations successfully was when the men came to install the internet access in the district. As I predicted, the hotspot was placed very close to where the district itself was. Since most of the tents were pretty close by to the district, it worked for all people, and we even got some signal in the central tent. In the central tent, they also erected a charging station; no doubt they would be using it since it was important to have a working laptop then more than ever before.

Now all that was left to do was to figure out if the signal would be caught from Caroline's tent.

And so, James offered me the laptop that he had bought over a weekend leave session to see if I could catch the signal. That I hid it in my armor was even more of a surprise, and so I stood at my night shift eagerly anticipating this.

Marius seemed to note this quite well, and he nodded. "Feeling good about the internet?" he asked.

I nodded. "And much more," I said. "I still can't believe MNU agreed to clean this place up."

The Afrikaaner shrugged. "Well, you never know," he said, shrugging.

"I'm not getting my hopes up, though," I mentioned. "They may have permitted increased rations, but that was only due to humanitarian pressure. I don't think I can get any other requests fulfilled, and if I can I'll be very surprised..."

"We'll have to see," said Marius. "You've got to be optimistic about these things."

"I try my best," I said. "But still, I don't feel terribly confident about this..."

"Well, hopefully with the internet your friends will realize that not all humans are bastards," said my friend. "At least we can hope for that."

I nodded, looking to the Afrikaaner. "You know, you're not a whole lot like the other people from this nation that are employed here," I pointed out.

Marius shrugged, chuckling softly. "I'm... different from most," he said simply, glancing to the side nervously. "I'm hardly one to jump on the bandwagon that everybody else has jumped on."

Curious, I rose an eyebrow and crossed my arms in front of me. "Really?" I asked. "How so?"

He lost the kind of playful expression that he had on his face until then. It was then I noticed he was fidgeting. "Well..." he said. "It's just... well... I... I... I'm not like most men... well... And I... I've never really... well, had a girl before... So... uh..."

I shook my head, smiling coyly as I figured out what he was trying to say. "Look, if you want to tell me you're homosexual, just say it and all will be well," I said.

Marius blinked tentatively, staring at me in disbelief. I looked at him and nodded slowly as he opened his mouth. "So... you don't mind?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not!" I said. "Have you read the _Symposium_ lately? If you haven't do yourself a favor and check that out."

Marius smiled. "It feels good to know I can share that bit out..." he said. "So far you're one of four people that know."

"I see..." I said, rubbing my chin in thought. "Well, it works both ways I suppose. If you have something you want to talk about, you can come to me, my friend."

"And same for you," said Marius with a bright smile on his face.

After this exchange, I looked into the district, crossing my arms.

"Well, I should probably get in there," I said. "They'll be expecting me..."

Marius nodded. Without any further words said between us, I moved slowly into the district, the laptop snugly fit in my armor and rubbing softly against my back as I moved along.

* * *

When I arrived at the tent, I nodded to them and slowly took off my armor.

"_What are you doing that for?_" asked Edward nervously.

It was when I revealed the laptop from behind my back that they all seemed to get my point.

"_So the internet is ready?_" asked Harold.

Opening the computer and turning it on, I nodded. "Almost," I said. "Now we just need to let this thing boot up and hope that it can pick up the signal, and we will be pretty much set."

"_And how long will that take?_" asked Jamecyn.

"Two, three, maybe five minutes," I said as I looked to the login. James had been kind enough to make users for all of us in our tent, and so I had gotten my own name on his laptop. And he was also kind enough to make it password-protected, so I had made a password that very few people could figure out. I typed it in, and then it shifted to a wallpaper with Stonehenge on it. As my back was to the poleepkwans, they got a good look at the stones, and they all leaned forward.

"_What's that?_" asked Matthew, curiously.

"That?" I asked. "That would be a monument that is called Stonehenge. It's... an arrangement of stones from my homeland that was left many thousands of years ago. Nobody knows exactly why they were erected..."

"_Then why leave them there?_" asked Harold.

I shrugged as the computer booted up. "You tend not to do that when there are extremely old things there," I said. "We like to try to preserve our cultural history, not just in books, but in our places too."

The others shrugged. "_Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but hey, whatever rocks your boat,_" said Jamecyn.

I rose my eyebrows at this and shrugged, looking at the computer to make sure that the wireless finder was on. Upon seeing the switch in the right position, I nodded.

"How do you treat your history?" I asked offhandedly.

The entire tent fell silent, and then I looked around me before I realized I had just asked a question they had no answer to. "I'm guessing it's all left in the homeworld?" I asked.

"_Yes,_" said Caroline. "_And most of us didn't even hear about that..._"

Solemnly, I nodded, and realized that they were a little worse off than I thought. These were a race with very little, that was true. But what I had forgotten until then was that most of their culture had simply vanished when they came to earth. They were a people without a home, but more importantly they were without identity. Anything they had that they could identify with their culture had either been confiscated by MNU and the Nigerians or it had been left behind on the homeworld. There was nothing that the older ones had, and the newer ones were thrust into a culture that treated them less than the dirt they stood on. And that realization struck me hard.

It struck me so hard, I was compelled to ask. "Is... is there anything that your... uh, parents might have brought to here?" I asked.

Mark's answer relieved me. "_Yes,_" he said. "_Most of what we have has disappeared with the mothership, but we still have something._"

"_For one, we have our tales,_" said Caroline almost nostalgically. "_We also have our language, our music, our dance, and our ability to make art. That was carried over from the homeworld._"

I nodded, smiling softly. "That makes me feel a little better," I said. "Although, I've never heard of you being permitted to do your music..."

"_We can only chant with special permission,_" replied Edward. "_But soon, we will have a chance. Wait and see, and we can show you our music and dance throughout one week..._"

Blinking, I looked to the one I had come to know as the elite of the hut. "One week?" I asked. "When would MNU go through that for you?"

"_We'll let them tell you,_" said David. "_They've always allowed this. For now, though, didn't you have something you wanted to check?_"

Suddenly remembering I was supposed to see if we had a signal, I tensed slightly. "Oh, dear, you're right!" I said, turning back to the computer. I looked at the screen, and then let my eyes wonder to the bottom right hand corner. I saw the two computer monitors with a globe connecting them, so I knew that at least we had something. I waited for ten seconds to make sure it would stay, and when it did that, I nodded. Slowly, I moved the mouse over to the icon for the internet browser, and breathing once, I double clicked on the icon.

"All right, the moment of truth..." I said.

It took a short while of the browser doing nothing, and a tense silence reigned in the tent. And then, the browser loaded a page surprisingly fast. And before I knew it, I was at the Yahoo homepage, looking at everything there.

"_So... is that a good thing?_" asked Caroline.

Smiling, I nodded fervently. "It is!" I exclaimed. "We have internet here!"

A series of hearty murmurs went throughout the group as I typed up the URL for Youtube quickly. And soon, all eyes were on there as I brought the cursor to Youtube's search bar.

"_So, what will be first?_" asked Caroline.

"Well... I thought I'd show something to you guys from around when you first came here," I said. "Mostly because it's about Perseus, but also because... well, you'll see why."

I could feel Matthew's gaze behind me. "_So you mean we'll get to see him?_" he asked innocently.

I chuckled softly as I rested on a link to a video. "Not really..." I said. "Just one way people decided to make him look. But anyways... I present to you... a short part of a little something called _Clash of the Titans..._"

And I clicked on the link, and in a few minutes we were sitting back enjoying Ray Harryhousen's clay figures clash with real humans. I figured they were not too impressed by this, but I could understand where they came from. After all, if their civilization had made a ship capable of travelling all over the universe, there was no telling what they could achieve in their culture. The clip was around five minutes long, and when it ended, I turned around to look into a bunch of slightly perplexed eyes.

"_That wasn't too bad..._" began Jamecyn. "_Except I could tell those things were made of clay..._"

"_What was that, anyway?_" asked Harold.

I shrugged. "That would be what is called a movie," I said. "It's a series of moving pictures with sound that's supposed to tell a story..."

"_So it's like a storyteller, only it doesn't rely on narration..._" said Caroline, blinking momentarily.

"Something like that, yes," I said. "And these days, we can recreate just about anything."

"_With clay?_" asked Jamecyn flatly.

"This particular movie was made in the same decade you came here," I said. "We were a long way from when those kinds of things would be done better by people sitting in front of things like this all day..."

The dark-green poleepkwa rose an eyebrow in inquiry, her mate doing the same thing. "_I guess we're going to see that too..._" she said.

"Yep," I said, closing the internet browser and moving the cursor to shut down the computer. "But for now, just know that clay was the best thing we had back then..."

The others nodded. "_But it was made by a person, no doubt?_" asked Caroline.

"Made his career of making figurines like that, too," I replied. "His name was Ray Harryhausen."

"_And he spent his entire life doing that?_" asked Mark.

I shrugged. "He's retired now," I said. "But back in the day that was what he did."

"_You humans are strange sometimes..._" chimed in Edward, his azure frame shifting slightly as he looked at me. "_Always specializing in only one thing..._"

"Well, usually when we love something, we continue doing it until we die," I said. "If I wasn't so fascinated by stories and the people who tell them, I wouldn't be a mythologist."

The others in the tent glanced at each other before Mark turned back to me. "_When you put it like that..._" he said. "_It's almost kind of beautiful..._"

"And that's what it is to us. Beauty," I said, looking to the child with a soft expression as the computer turned itself off. "For now, though, I have to tell Matthew a story."

"_Yay!_" he chirped merrily.

And so, I began to tell Matthew the story of the Trojan war. I had to build up all of the events surrounding it first, though, so it would take quite some time. And I understood this quite well. I left it off when they were going to war, as the child was rather drowsy that night and turned in as soon as I had gotten to that point. Smiling down on him, I nodded and turned to Caroline.

"So..." I said. "I guess you like to do everything?"

"_We believe it helps us,_" replied the poleepkwa, eyes darting down before rising back up to meet my gaze. "_Specialization can do too little to hurt us..._"

"We find it suits us," I said. "I mean, it is the basis for our economy, where if we have a problem we go around buying services."

"_In other words..._" said Edward. "_You deal in singularities..._"

I nodded. "It's how our concept of ownership works," I said. "We all believe we are entitled to our own individual needs. So we go out, and get our needs ourselves. Some people have even decided not to rely on others. We believe in self-sustenance. Everything we do... is more or less for ourselves..."

The group of poleepkwas eyed me oddly. "_Really?_" asked Edward. "_From what I hear, back in the homeworld there was no such thing as singularity. Everyone was involved in something, everyone owned the land, and we all worked together._"

Rubbing my chin, I looked to the grander poleepkwa. "Actually, we do have a line of thought that goes like that," I said. "A man named Karl Marx wrote about it almost a full century before you arrived, and it's describing everything exactly as you say it. But so far only one experiment in that line of thought has really endured, and even then the state of it is very shaky at best..."

"_Our system worked for many millions of years,_" replied Caroline. "_At least, that's what I hear._"

"Then what's different?" I asked.

The other poleepkwa looked at me before Edward glanced at me. "_From what I've seen of your politics, your nations change leaders when people put papers in strange boxes,_" he said.

"It didn't always use to be like that," I replied. "That's a development that only began around two centuries ago..."

"_But the matter is, your kind is never content with who you live under,_" elaborated the hut's leader. "_From what I hear, back in the homeworld we were kept under guidance, and we knew who our leader was. And he... could tell us to do things..._"

I rose my eyebrows. "Ah, yes, the whole queen thing," I said. "I've heard about that, but knowing you guys I'm not sure how true it is anymore."

"_Oh, it is very true,_" said Caroline. "_But perhaps you are not thinking about how our thoughts are balanced..._"

I blinked, a little confused by what she had said. "Go on," I said.

"_Part of our minds are blank..._" she said. "_I guess that's where the elites would exhert their commands on us. But in the other part, we are capable of thought. We can make decisions. But the empty part of our brain is the greater part..._"

Frowning, I crossed my arms. "So let me see if I have this correct," I said. "You take commands from your elites, as you call them, but you can still think for yourselves. How do you know this?"

"_We have lesser elites scattered throughout the district,_" replied Caroline, almost wistfully. "_They cannot organize the entire district, but they can get a few others others to do their bidding. That is one way; the lessers are able to question the will of the greaters, and so an agreement can be reached and harmony can be achieved._"

I nodded. It all sounded wonderful, but I found it quite a bit easier to wrap my head around the concept than I thought it would be. I realized that our governments worked the same exact way, with the kinds of checks and balances that had cropped up in most democratic societies of the day. I remembered I would have to check the history of the poleepkwan homeworld someday, and so I nodded.

"And what happens if one takes a more self-interested involvement in this kind of society?" I asked.

"_That, is the subject of today's story,_" she told me then, leaving a glance at my recording device. "_When you're ready._"

I jolted, almost unable to believe the smooth segue between the two topics. But I got out the device anyway, and hit record twice.

* * *

**Once, long ago, was a lesser one who had a fondness for puppets. It was always fond of the way its puppets moved, and had grown quite an attraction for them.**

**Every half of a lunar cycle, the lesser one would hole itself up in a secret place to make a new puppet. The orders of the elites around it were ignored, as it created as many puppets as it was conent to make. And when it was done, it would always leave the objects around its nest, the lifeless things being brought to life.**

**However, the lesser one's obsession over its creations was seen as something dangerous by all others. The lesser one was very rarely seen doing any other work, even when the elites forced it to do something. All day it would obsess over its puppets, and would always try to make them clean and presentable for all. It would also constantly practice its puppetry skills, hoping to put on a greater show than the day before. Thus, the puppet master was viewed as useless to society.**

**However, there was not a single one who was willing to do anything about it. Its obsession was not actively harming anybody, and so they did not mind. The lesser one was good at making the children of the village happy when nothing else could cheer them up, putting on brightly dazzling shows of its puppetry when the children were sad. So even if it was not doing busy work it was still working towards the betterment of society. And thus, they decided that while its obsession was not useful, it was not harmful either, and so they let it live.**

**It was such that a younger elite came into the town, and saw the man obsessed with its puppets. Immediately, it decided that destroying the lesser one's work would be of benifit to all. The older, more experienced elites advised against this stoically, pointing out all of the good it did to the children. But the stubborn one did not listen, for it only believed that being busy to work on things for other people was the only way to live. And no matter how much the other elites attempted to steer the inexperienced one away from its view, it only solidified its stance.**

**And it attempted to destroy the puppets through the lowest ones. However, the lesser elites thwarted the stubborn one's attempts to do so every time. And eventually, it came to the point where the elites threatened the stubborn one with expulsion from the village.**

**The younger elite then brought matters into its own hands. In the dead of the night, the stubborn one stole into the night, and set fire to the lesser one's secret place. When it was burned to the ground, the elite moved on to the house of the puppetmaster itself, and burning it down it stole away. And when dawn rose, the entire village gazed upon the lesser one, staring at its abode in disbelief.**

**The lesser one's mind left with its puppets. And soon enough, it rampaged through the village, killing whoever was unfortunate enough to be in the way. As the day wore on, more people had been killed by the puppetmaster who had lost its pride and joy than what could have been good for the society it thrived in. It went on its rampage for most of the day, right up until the greater elites heard about it. Quickly, they moved in and killed the lesser one, having no choice against the raving madman.**

**The tragedy that ensued was horrible, but no sorrow felt by anybody could equal the fury felt by the crowd at the young elite for disturbing the peace. And so, the young elite was torn into ten parts by the crowd at the greater elites' command for bringing the tragedy among them in the first place.**

**And then, at the site where the puppet maker once dwelled, the children left a loving representation of the puppet in the village, and the place was considered sacred ground. If one would look there in the middle of the night, some would swear the puppet maker is manipulating the puppet the children made from beyond the grave. And so the ground would remain untouched forever after.**

**

* * *

**"_The end._"

I turned off the device slowly, looking to the others. After hearing the tale, I had so many questions spiraling in my head that I knew I could not leave them alone. "So I assume that those with individual thought are troublemakers?"

"_Only if their aims end up resulting in more harm than good,_" replied Caroline. "_Many times it has not come to our detriment, so we choose not to do anything. But sometimes aims are dangerous... and so we attempt to weed that out..._"

I shrugged. "It sounds a lot like our own centralist system to me," I said. "What happens when you take out one with bad intentions?"

"_My parent told me that we would exile them,_" she said. "_I don't know how they would be exiled, but she said it was always done with respect._"

I shrugged. "That doesn't sound particularly... comfortable," I said. "Something about it disturbs me..."

"_The system has its dangers,_" said Caroline. "_But from what I hear, the greatest elites, and the queens of larger groups, are very wise beyond their years. They know far more than anything else. It is as if their intelligence is a gift from the forces of the beyond..._"

I nodded, brows furrowed slightly as I nodded. "I guess it works," I said, slowly moving towards the exit of the tent.

"_I hope you're ready to show us more of that stuff next time!"_ said Jamecyn as if to remind me.

"I will!" I said. "I'll see you guys soon!"

And with this, I left the tent swiftly afterwards.


	18. The Determination of Cleckaga

All right, so the internet is had. I know I used improper grammar in that sentence, but trust me, it was completely intentional.

I guess I've got nothing better to do, so I'll just turn it over to the guys with a discovery that will send Curtis downhill again...

* * *

The Determination of Cleckaga

My euphoria would die very quickly a few days later, as a discovery within the district itself was about to go down.

I saw the signal again about three days after that. James seemed to know what was happening and said absolutely nothing about my trip into the district as I followed Harold deep into the heart of the place. I saw that MNU had indeed done a very thorough sweep of the district with its cleaning initiative, and I was feeling quite happy about this.

And finally, when we were far enough to not be seen by the guards (and it was very far now, given that the garbage piles were no long there to obscure us), I paused, looking to the brownish poleepkwa with a nod.

"No doubt we'll have to go this far to mask our efforts now, eh?" I asked.

"_It's more than just that,_" replied Harold. "_To see what I want to show you today, we have to go very deep into the district.._."

I blinked. "Oh dear..." I said. "So deep that MNU would not venture in there?"

"_Either way, they probably wouldn't care,_" replied the poleepkwa sadly, his eyes cast down to the earth.

Almost immediately, I knew that this would be something I would not like, and I frowed. "It's bad, isn't it?" I asked.

Harold nodded. "_Yes,_" said the poleepkwa. "_Caroline and Edward are waiting at the entrance of the largest tent in District 10. We shouldn't keep them waiting._"

I nodded, not looking forward to what waited me as he led me to a rather long tent. Caroline and Edward were standing at its entrance, looking at me with concerned eyes as I looked at the tent in shock. It was the same as most every other tent in the district, but it was so much larger. Height-wise, it barely rose over the rest of the district, but I saw that where it lacked in height it more than made up for in width. It was as wide as twelve normal MNU-issued tents, and I was sure it was even longer than that. Looking to Caroline with shock on my face, I pointed to the tent.

"How'd you get a tent this large?" I asked. "I don't think MNU gave out tents this big for you..."

"_They did not,_" replied Caroline. "_This is a tent made of many smaller tents by our people..._"

"_It was designed to hold many of us,_" added Edward.

I shuddered, looking at the large tent nervously. "But why would you want a tent that could hold many?"

"_Come inside..._" said the larger poleepkwa, opening the tent flap slowly.

The three aliens opened the tent and entered slowly, and left me standing outside of there to contemplate my fears. To be honest, I was very afraid of what was waiting in the tent that it should require such a sheer size to hold whatever was in there and still be safe.

Gulping, I entered the tent. But I was not prepared for what I saw within the tent.

In the tent, there were aliens lying down in many improvised cots. Some were cloths that were laid on the ground, some were made of tentpoles that had been scattered around, and some were actual beds that were put in the tents originally.

All of the aliens had one thing in common, though. All of them were moaning in pain. And all of them seemed to have either horrible injuries or some kind of illness I was never properly able to pin down. The chorus of moaning overwhelmed my senses, however, and I looked around frantically, looking around the tent. I then noticed that it also smelled foul in there, of a stench that MNU could not easily remove. It was also a little disgusting, as I saw that some of the sheets were unclean, and white stuff seemed to be on the grass and on some of the poleepkwans as they looked sick from all variety of disease.

Upon a closer look, I was able to see a few poleepkwans kneeling down by those that were moaning loudly, checking that they were all right. But concern was just as rife in their eyes as it was in mine. Nervously, they went about with makeshift items, attempting to deal with wounds and illnesses as best they could. Judging from the smell, however, I had the feeling they were failing at doing so.

Looking around, I was shocked to see this. With this inherent in my eyes, I turned to Caroline.

"What the bloody hell is...?" I asked in disbelief. "Why...?"

"_Nobody would help us,_" said Caroline. "_At least, not willingly. And it would take doctors a while to figure out our diseases..._"

"This... this is terrible!" I said.

Edward shook his head. "_It's the best we can do,_" he said. "_There were no medical tents, and we can't seek any medical attention elsewhere. This is the only place we can go to if we get sick... and very few people get out of this place with all of their limbs intact._"

I blinked, looking around. "How... How could anybody let something like this happen?"

"_You tell us,_" replied Harold.

I looked to Harold in disbelief. "Excuse me!" I said. "But I'm not the one oppressing you here. I'm just trying to help! Besides, I... humanity is probably not the only one to blame here..."

"_It is your superiors who decided to deny us medical help,_" said Caroline. "_How are we involved?_"

I glanced around, gesturing to the tent. "You should at least take better care of it!" was the first thing out of my mouth. "I mean... look at this place! It's filthy!"

"_And there's not a whole lot we can do about that,_" said Caroline. "_MNU did something about the garbage, but this is a problem with no easy fix... Especially since we have no water._"

"Then..." I said, trying to think of a possibility. "Then what about going to the human rights groups that hand out the rations? I'll bet they'd be willing to do something about it! Smuggling medical supplies, sanitary stuff, getting some to help clean this place up, anything!"

"_We're afraid to say anything,_" offered Harold, dark exoskeleton glimmering slightly. "_It's not as easy to talk to them about our problems as we would like. The guards are there, and they'll think something is up if we try to talk to them for too long. And then they could cut things off and our rations will disappear. And that'll be worse..._"

I shook my head, rubbing my forehead as I pondered. I was beginning to get frustrated with the lack of control I had over something. The problem with this tent was that there was no way I could alert Piet about it without sounding like a sympathiser. And I knew that if I wanted any more requests granted it would have to be told n a way that could benefit the guards too. But the medical state of the aliens was something far from their minds, and it frustrated me to know that I was at a loss to see what I could do about a problem like this.

I was about to comment on the futility of the situation when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw someone familiar. Turning in this direction, I saw a poleepkwa with the purple skirt, tending to someone else. Instantly, I recognized the exoskeleton as the woman from whom I had confiscated the machete.

"Eleanor..." I said to myself, before slowly going deeper in. When she heard the crunch of my boots on the soil, she snapped at attention, her gaze fixed on me as she suddenly tensed up.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to harm you," I said. "Eleanor Rigby, was it?"

Nervously, she nodded. I knelt down to her level, looking at her.

"It looks like you could use some help," I said, gesturing to the sick one. "What's the matter with this one?"

Eleanor looked down at the poleepkwa beneath her, the stranger writhing in pain as it looked up. She then looked back at me, scared.

Sighing, I took my guns off of my person and laid them on the ground at the sick one's feet. "There," I said as I did this. "Now I can't exactly hurt you in a way that can kill you. Now, what's the matter with this one?"

Eleanor hesitated, looking at the guns as I gave her an encouraging look. "_I don't know,_" she said finally. "_He's been running a high fever since he got here... and... his exoskeleton paled a little bit..._"

Frowning, I looked at her with an odd look on my face. "What do you mean 'paled'?" I asked. "Is that a bad thing, or a good thing?

Eleanor shook her head. "_Bad,_" she said. "_Really, really bad. It means there's been a retraction of the skin from the exoskeleton. And most of the time, it's not due to hunger..._"

I blinked. "And I'm guessing air escaping into there is a bad thing?" I asked.

She nodded. "_Your diseases are very strange,_" she said,glancing down at the patient. "_We know hunger and thirst, but not stuff like this..._"

I rubbed my chin in thought, wondering what else there would be. An idea occurred, and then I shifted where I knelt.

"What... what other symptoms does this one have?" I asked.

Eleanor shook her head. "_He's had a history of coming here,_" she said. "_He first came when we moved in, and he's been constantly coming in. But the strange thing is it is for all these diseases that we aren't supposed to get... He has even come here with symptoms that leave us in the dark about what exactly he's sick with... It's like his immune system is weak..._"

I felt myself stiffen as I heard this escape her tendrils. I shuddered, looking down at the poleepkwa in question. Shaking my head, I put my hand on the ill poleepkwa. It glanced up at me, its eyes piercing into my soul. At the same time, however, I saw a plead in there. I saw pain. I saw sadness. And I saw one of the greatest shows of desparation I've ever felt in a long time.

_Save me_, it seemed to say. _Please._

It made me feel horrible for what I was about to ask, then.

"What's his history with the Nigerian prostitutes?" I asked.

Eleanor raised some eyebrow ridges curiously at my question. "_Why are you asking that?_" she asked.

"Please, just answer the question," I said.

She shrugged. "_He went to them all the time,_" she said. "_This one was a friend of mine... And he would go there all the time because he lost his job so man times... And then just before the move, he began to tell me that he was not feeling well..._"

I shook my head, bracing myself to impart the news.

"I don't think you can save him," I said bitterly.

Eleanor looked at me, a shock of terror in her eyes. "_W-what?_" she asked. "_But... But I have to be able to save him! Somehow!_"

I shook my head. "If you have been describing things to me right, what he probably has is something called AIDS," I said. "It's a virus that attacks your immune system and kills it off slowly. It's transmitted through things like sexual contact and injecting unclean needles into your bloodstream, so he probably got it from the prostitutes. It can kill you, not directly, but because your immune system is so weak that it can't fight infections after a certain point..."

Eleanor's eyes seemed to brighten up in happiness, her antennae perking up. "_So you know what it is,_" she said. "_Can you cure it?_"

My shoulders sagged as I looked down at the ailing poleepkwa. "Let me put it this way," I said. "Our own doctors can't figure out how to cure this disease in places in much better shape than what you have here. And the only treatment we have for the disease is extremely hard to get if you don't have it yourself. So I can't get it for you, and I don't think you can help him in a place where nobody is willing to help..."

I shook my head sadly, looking down at the dying alien. "I'm sorry," I said.

Eleanor looked at me, her brown eyes seeming to shine a little brighter as I saw something wet begin to pile underneath. "_So what...?_"

She didn't need to finish her sentence for me to know what she was asking. "Make sure he isn't alone," I said. "Don't let him die alone. That's the only thing I can think of right now."

I nodded sadly, and stood up. "I'm sorry."

It didn't lessen the despair she felt, as then she shook her head. I saw tears begin to fall down her face, and it was then that I realized that poleepkwans could cry. I couldn't exactly blame her: I myself felt close to shedding a few tears at the hopelessness of the situation. Unhappily, I crossed my arms and looked to Caroline, Edward, and Harold where they stood. I shook my head, and they nodded. I am sure they must have seen the expression on my face as I looked at them, as it reflected what I knew of the hopeless situation.

* * *

"_So you knew that disease that it had?_" was the first thing that Edward asked.

"Yes," I said. "The disease is really horrible; there's no known cure..."

"_How awful..._" added Caroline.

I nodded sadly. "Indeed," I said.

We were on our way away from the tent that doubled as a medical practice. I was talking to my friends solemnly about what I saw, and then I told them exactly what had happened with Eleanor. They were just as stricken with sadness as I was at what I had told them, and so we moved along.

Even then, though, Harold had found something positive in it. "_Well, you knew what it was, right?_" asked Harold.

"Yes," I said. "Why do you ask?"

"_Well, maybe you could help us identify some of the human diseases you have,_" he replied at length.

Glancing to the side in sadness, I sighed. "What good would that do?" I asked. "I wouldn't be able to tell you a cure, so that would not help anything at all..."

"_Well, we can catch on later..._" said Caroline. "_Maybe we could even come up with improvised cures for some of your diseases. It is a venture with very little hope, but I think we could do it..._"

I looked down at the ground, shaking my head softly. "I'll think about it," I said. "Although, if I am going to do this, we'll have to find a way to pace this so that it doesn't look suspicious..."

"_We'll think about that too,_" said Edward. "_We'll be heading within their line of sight soon. Take care, Curtis._"

The three of them slowly left my side.

"See you tonight," I said.

And moving back to the edge of the district, I felt a heavy weight hang itself on my heart. It was not fair. None of it was fair. It would be far less of a hopeless situation if MNU had been kinder to these aliens. Given them some form of medical care in the district. Maybe had the garbage bins installed in the first place. I was at a loss of what to think once again, but it was due now to how hopeless the situation was beginning to feel. And this time it arose out of how to deal with futility.

But this time, I decided not to go to weekend leave, for I had the feeling that Caroline, Edward, and Harold were all in the same boat that I was in upon thinking about the situation a little further. And with them, I hoped I would be able to find a solution to everything even in spite of how hopeless it came out. Because their determination to help their people was great, and so I would do everything I could even if it seemed hopeless in the end.

* * *

I brought the internet over that night, and I had already comfortably plunked down in their tent that night. The air in the tent was solemn that night, no doubt due to what I had seen in the district earlier that day. So I typed away at the computer, going through it and looking up various diseases thanks to a google search. David was on his knees, looking over my shoulder so he could take notes of the human symptoms of our diseases. He had a stellar memory that he told me about, and so I decided trust him with the knowledge I had of our diseases in case he needed it.

"It's a shame we can't print this," I said. "That would help a lot..."

"_You mean make it into something we can hold on to?_" asked Mark from where he sat behind me. "_Just make some at home._"

I shook my head. "It's not possible," I said. "I'm frisked every time I enter this district. They could find the papers and figure things out..."

The poleepkwa nodded. Harold and Jamecyn were both out that night thanks to Wilbur (yet again), and thus it left everone else to crowd around the laptop as I looked up diseases.

Caroline shrugged. "_You never know..._" said Caroline. "_I wonder... how fast would your diseases run in our bodies?_"

I sighed. "I honestly don't want to think about it," I said. "I have a distinct feeling that your species goes through AIDS much faster than we do..."

"_Why do you say that?_" asked David from where he sat.

"Normally, it takes six years for humans to get into as bad a shape as he is in, and that's without taking any of the cocktails I mentioned earlier," I said. "It can then take three years for the person to finally die of complications due to the disease. That person that was dying in the tent got ill ridiculously fast..."

The others nodded. "_But then, where does that leave us?_" asked David softly.

"I would not know," I replied softly. "No matter what, it is not in any good direction..."

I settled on another disease, letting David take in the details of the disease. "So how often do you go in there?" I asked.

"_When I'm not being ordered around,_" replied the poleepkwa. "_I work for one of the elites found in the district, you see..._"

"Ah," I said. "What does he have you do?"

"_Help its injured and sick,_" he replied.

I shrugged as he clicked with his mouthparts. Taking this as a signal to go on, I hit the back button a few times and typed in a new disease in the search bar. "Well, you're still helping the sick and wounded no matter what," I said.

"_But I'm not too sure it's for our good..._" said David nervously, his glance cast down at the ground.

Glancing so that I faced him, I rose an eyebrow. "Why's that?" I asked.

David shrugged as I turned back to the laptop. "_I'm afraid of some of the things he does..._" he said. "_It's like he's planning something..._"

My lips curved downward for a brief second as I considered the implications of this statement. I was not sure what he meant by that, but whatever it was I had the idea that it was something not all too pleasant. I would think about it later, though, so I turned back to what I had been doing earlier.

"Well, hopefully it won't be bad for everyone," I said as I heard David click. "Just keep an optimistic attitude and it'll be fine, I'm sure."

It didn't seem to assuage his fears at all, but he seemed to nod. A short while later, I heard him shift behind me, and I turned to see him walk away.

"_That's a good amount of diseases for me to memorize for now,_" he said. "_Thanks for that, Curtis._"

"No problem, David," I said, closing the browser and shutting down the laptop.

Matthew looked at me with a look of concern on his face. "_Is story man okay?_" he asked.

I exhaled, looking down at the ground sadly. "I don't think so," I said. "It's just... I've got a lot on my mind..."

The child didn't seem pleased with this explanation at all. "_Story man..._" he said innocently. "_It'll be okay. Everything'll get better, right? And then we'll all be happy._"

I appreciated his optimism. However, I understood at the same time that his optimism was born out of a certain naiveté; he had not seen the kinds of things I have seen. But still, I knew that I needed to have hope. It was the only thing I had, even if I was losing it slowly.

Finally, I nodded. "I'll try," I said. "But I don't know if everything's going to get better, Matthew."

"_Just don't stop, and it will,_" replied the child. "_You don't have to tell me a story tonight... You look like you could use a break._"

Sighing, I nodded. I was relieved he had told me it was all right, as I was afraid he would take it the wrong way if I said no. "Thanks," I said.

"_Good night, story man,_" he said innocently as he edged into bed.

"Good night," I said solemnly, watching him slowly drift off to sleep.

I blinked, looking over to Caroline as I felt depression set in. "You know..." I said. "This can't be easy..."

"_It's not,_" said Edward. "_Knowing that at least in this respect there is not a whole lot I can do is a little depressing..._"

I nodded, understanding his point. "I guess tonight's story has something to do with how you handle stuff like this?" I asked.

Caroline shrugged. "_Possibly,_" she said. "_I just want to ask; are you all right?_"

Glancing to the side, I shrugged. "I don't feel good about myself, but I'll live," I said. "After all, I wouldn't be able to help you guys with the things I could help you with if I couldn't handle this one thing, right?"

The others in the tent nodded, David shifting slightly. "_Good line of thought,_" he said. "_That's always good to think like that._"

"_It's a good thing the subject of our story today thinks that way too..._" said Caroline, shaking her head.

I pulled out my recording device after a few seconds of pondering, and hit record twice.

"It's recording," I said simply.

She nodded, and her mouthparts clicked softly as she turned to me and began to tell her story.

* * *

**Once, long ago, lived an unfortunate one who mourned a lot. This unfortunate one was known as Cleckaga, and it was unfortunate in that it had been exiled from its nest of origin. And so, it milled around, looking for a new place to call a nest.**

**It was such that the sad one came across a village that had lost all of its elites to a horrid plague. Cleckaga itself was no elite, but it could clearly see the pain throughout the village that was seen. Young ones were hunted at night, the older ones were ineffective, and there was sickness and death almost everywhere it went. The sad one saw something in the eyes of all the adults in the area; a pleading look at the sad one that said 'save us'. **

**Seeing this, Cleckaga resolved to do something about it. Leaving a prayer to Boreal for guidance to do the right thing, it moved about the village.**

**But its pleas fell on deaf ears, as the village had disgraced Boreal well before the determined one came. The lord of righteousness had marked the village for doom for the debaucherous behavior, and so the lord of good sent the messenger Thereal to Cleckaga to inform it of the mistake it was making.**

**The determined one was not phased, however, and flippantly told the messenger that it would not back down against the decree of a lord of righteousness. Cleckaga was offended that the lord of good could do such a thing to anyone, and so it resolved to attempt to save the people of its village despite what the omnipotent one threw at it. **

**At first, it opened a makeshift home for the younglings to stay at during the night. This venture did not succeed all that well, since it only made the children easier targets to take away. Upon noticing this, Cleckaga attempted to increase the security of the place, which ultimately came to no avail either thanks to Boreal's great hand. The sad one tried many different things to save the children of the village from being captured and taken away, but each attempt ended in failure, as at least one child was always captured thanks to Boreal. Cleckaga attempted and attempted again, but its attempts were to no avail, as eventually every child in the village was kidnapped.**

**As it was attempting this, Cleckaga moved to try to cure the sick. But the sickness was a disease controlled by the lord of good, and so no matter what the great one tried to do to cure them, it constantly evolved so that Cleckaga could never concisely figure out how to cure it. Despite this, the great one tried everything in its power to save the sick. Slowly, however, they all began to die even with its efforts. But still, up until the last one died of the plague, Cleckaga never gave up.**

**Lastly, Cleckaga did everything in its power to quell the violence it saw all around the place. But here again Boreal thwarted her every attempts, as it instilled an unquencheable rage in every one the great one tried to save. But still, Cleckaga fought against fate to save them even knowing that their wrath was divinely inspired. And it continued to try until every last person was dead.**

**And so, the determined one was left standing over the ruins of the village at the end of its futile fight, the dead looking at it with sad eyes. Cleckaga itself was horrified that it was not able to save the village, and so it commenced in an elaborate lamentation for all that it had failed to save.**

**Boreal looked on this, and then it pitied the determined one. It had fought against Boreal without success, and yet the lord of good saw the strength of character in Cleckaga that it would work so hard and ultimately fail to save a cursed village. Even knowing its history, the great one had done what nobody else would have dared to do, and attempted everything in its power to prove the god wrong. Such was Cleckaga's determination, that it had fought against a god, even if it knew somewhere in the back of its mind it could lose.**

**And it was such that it sent Thereal down to Cleckaga in the middle of its lamentation. The messenger told the sad one that Boreal had taken pity on it, and as such, would allow Cleckaga to return to its nest that it had been banished from two lunar cycles beforehand. Thinking about it a little, the depressed one accepted Boreal's offer.**

**The lord of evil subsequently cleared Cleckaga of the charges that had been laid against it in its home nest, and then the great one was allowed to rejoin its nest. There, a great happiness took over, and Cleckaga lived the rest of its days in happiness, the events at the doomed village never far from its mind as it did all it could to make its village better forever after.**

* * *

_"The end..._" whispered Caroline softly.

Nodding, I turned the device off. I nodded slowly.

"Appropriate, given we're fighting against impossible odds here," I said.

"_We just can't give up,_" replied David with a shrug. "_No matter what happens._"

I sagged down. "But what if we know we won't win?" I asked. "What then?"

Edward looked at me, soft eyes seeming fatherly as he shifted. "_Then keep on trying,_" he said. "_Even if you can only do something that barely affects anything, it is better than outright giving up._"

I nodded. "All right," I said. "I'll try to be strong. Good night."

And so, I left the tent, feeling a little better but no less depressed than before.

* * *

What I heard that night in the small tent in District 9 got me to thinking quite a bit over the next few days. I decided that I had thought of giving up far too much. I naturally wouldn't have come to this conclusion.

I talked about it with Marius a few nights later, and he would tell me that I had to keep trying. The black population had fought long and hard against apartheid policies to be integrated, and while the poleepkwan arrival in South Africa did make things easier, their efforts paid off in the end.

And so, I decided that no matter what odds I was against, I would always attempt to find a way to get something done.

Edward's saying that night held a lot of truth in it, too. The myth of Pandora's box demonstrates this all too well. Of course, everybody knows how she opened the box and unleashed the plagues of the world after her curiosity got the better of her. When the box had been closed and the plagues of the world had been unleashed, a voice called to Pandora from within the box. She reopened it, and Pandora had released the last gift of Zeus unto the world; hope. She had unleashed hope, that would give humanity the strength they needed to believe they could outstand whatever plagues the gods had bestowed upon them from the tiny little box that she had opened.

For where there is despair, there is always hope.


	19. Sorgeval's Faithful Servant

Yep, so we find a tent of sick people. Quite tragic, don't you think?

Or not. It all depends on how you look at it. Ah, well, at least we got another appearance of gutterchild's baby in there.

So yeah, let's continue along certain lines of thought, yes?

* * *

Sorgeval's Faithful Servant

A few days later, we encountered trouble in the district.

We were doing our usual rounds. I had been hoping we could go into the district again, given how I had wanted to go in there and Harold hadn't called me when suddenly I noticed a pair of poleepkwans flitting about the tents, one of them clearly chasing the other. I recognized the one giving chase to be Jonathan almost immediately, but I was not sure what was going on.

It was not until I noticed something glittering in the claws of the one being chased that I realized what might have happened. When I squinted, I saw a rather battered wooden box with a lock on it that was keeping the thing sealed shut. The lock shone of light silver, rust having taken over some of the lock as the sunlight glimmered off of it. Seeing this, I gestured to James by tapping him on the shoulder.

"Is that something in his hand?" I asked, pointing at the poleepkwan in question as they flitted about.

James glanced harder, and then he seemed to notice it too. Before he could comment, though, Abejide frowned.

"Man, look at those two prawns," he said, pointing at them. "Running around like that... We should do something about this."

"Hang on, Abejide," I said, taking a glance at where Hendrik was stationed. Gesturing with my hands to the Afrikaaner, I got his attention. I pointed at the strip along which the two poleepkwans had been chasing each other for the past few minutes, and he nodded.

"Damn things are annoying me!" he shouted.

I nodded, and looked along the strip. I got myself into a running position, keeping track of the aliens running around. As soon as they began to approach, I rushed forward, hands in position. A few seconds later, I felt myself collide with exoskeleton, and then me and the poleepkwa with the box were both sent tumbling down. We both rolled into the district in a heap, the box flying a short distance away.

I heard footsteps thundering around as we came to a stop, and then I saw Jonathan run around as I slowly opened my eyes, the dirt settling from our fall as he swooped down and picked up the box that had been in the arms of the one I had tackled. I heard more footsteps, however, and he froze in place as I saw Abejide approach the poleepkwa with his gun trained on the innocent.

"What the fuck were ya doin', prawn?" he asked loudly.

Jonathan began to chirp frantically as Dawid and James all approached from where he was. Dawid began shouting at the poor alien as well, and as he frantically began attempting to explain what was going on, I slowly stood up and held my hands out to them. They were turned to the alien, though, and James shot me a glance asking me for assistance.

"Guys, calm down," I shouted over them as loud as my vocal chords could shout.

The effect was instantaneous; Dawid and Abejide were both promptly quiet. All eyes were promptly on me, with which I breathed in.

"Let him explain wha--"

I never would have needed to finish my sentence. The poleepkwa that had been chased by Jonathan had promptly shoved me to the side violently. I hit the ground rather violently, and then all was chaos shortly after. When I looked up, I saw that Jonathan had darted off with the box. Shaking his head, I saw Hendrik out of the corner of my eye as Dawid picked up his radio.

"Dawid to headquarters, we have an attempted theft here," he said, moving towards me to help me up as I saw James, Abejide, and Hendrik run after the thing. I nodded to him and promptly chased after them.

"Wait, Curtis, hold on, I--"

"I'm fine!" I shouted back. "I've gotta go see this through!"

And with this, I came up just behind Abejide to chase the two poleepkwans around, wiping some dirt off of my forehead as my hand found its way to my gun. I pulled it out, preparing to defend myself with it in case the need arose. The chase around the district was indeed made much easier without the presence of debris everywhere, and I ran forward as fast as I could.

By chance, thankfully, Jonathan managed to pull a crafty move that only I saw. He made a turn into another row of tents, but when the alien chasing it has followed Jonathan in there, it had found that the poleepkwa had disappeared. It suddenly paused, looking around trying to see where Jonathan had gone. That was the opportunity we needed, for then Hendrik and Abejide both tackled the creature at the same time. It struggled viciously, but the two guards held it firmly in their grip.

"Hey!" shouted Hendrik. "What the fok was that? What the fok was that?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" shouted James as he and I both came up behind them. "No need for violence with this one! Maybe--"

"No need for violence?" shouted Hendrik, tilting his head and looking back at the American. "Fok, man, he shoved Curtis!"

The Afrikaaner turned his attention back to the alien, which was clicking so desperately and with such gargled language that I was unable to make out what he was saying. He then grabbed his pistol and pointed it at the alien's head.

"What the fok was that about, huh?" he asked, threateningly, ignoring the alien's desperate pleas. "Why the fok did you shove him? Eh? Why the fok did you shove him!"

James and I simply glanced at each other, not knowing what was going on.

"You stupid fok!" I heard Hendrik yell. "You don't go shoving my friends for tryin' to steal a fokin' box!"

I had no further warning before I suddenly heard the gunshot go off. All activity in the district stopped at the sound, and the frantic pleading of the attempted thief was cut off abruptly, its body falling to the ground limp as black blood began to flow out of the wound on its head.

Looking at the sight, I could not help but turn away. I shook my head, looking into the tents. It was thus that I noticed Jonathan there, hiding between the tents. Before I knew what I was doing, I gave a quick gesture with my hands that nobody saw. Nodding, the poleepkwa moved through the tents, clutching the box close to its person as a crowd began to form around us and the dead poleepkwan. I heard various low chirpings, but I was unable to train my mind on them as suddenly I felt Hendrik drop a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay, Curtis?" he asked.

Taken aback by the surprise gesture, I nodded slowly. "I'm fine, Hendrik," I said. "But was it really necessary to kill it?"

"Yes." Hendrik's reply was short, to the point, and almost too casually said to sort through my head.

Frowning, I brought a hand to my chin, shaking my head as I looked at the Afrikaaner. "That should be a violation of protocol," I pointed out.

Hendrik shrugged. "Well, nobody complained when I did it in District 9, who the fok says I can't do it here?" he asked.

I had heard about Hendrik's time in the old District 9 before it had been torn down. This was the first I had actually heard about his time there, though. I was quite surprised at his attitude towards it; he treated being trigger happy as if it was a good thing.

Wondering about this, I rubbed my chin. "But isn't it against regulations to shoot an alien?" I asked.

Hendrik glared at me. "He shoved you," he replied with a stony expression on his face. "That's all I need. And experience."

With this, the Afrikaaner came closer to me as James and Abejide both watched from the sidelines. "You wanna know what happened around evictions?" he asked. "Some human had gotten alien weapons from the Nigerians and tried to stage a revolt just as we had begun evictions. The human was something else, I tell you; he truly fokin' believed he was one with those fokin' prawns."

He looked me right in my eyes as he said the sentence. "You want to now why it failed?" he asked. "It failed because we used force. Lots of fokin' prawns died that day. We think one of them got away with a weapon, but the rest of them, oh no. Even the fokin' human died. They all died, because they staged a rebellion."

Hendrik then turned away from me, his back to me as he walked away. "That's why I don't let these fokin' things get away with anything," he said as the crowd slowly dissipated. "These fokin' prawns... they're always up to something. They always will be. And someone's gotta stop them at the first sign of it. And that's why I kill them all."

He turned back to me briefly. "And you better man the fok up, because if you don't, you might not get so lucky next time."

With this, he slowly walked away, leaving us in the middle of the district as Abejide and James came up behind me. Abejide's eyes were curiously wide as he pointed after the trigger happy man.

"What's up with him, man?" asked the Nigerian.

I shook my head, violently. "He doesn't know any of that," I said, frowning at this. "He doesn't know a single bloody thing about that..."

Shaking my head, the crowd began to thin out. As it did, I turned to James and Abejide.

"Come on," I said. "Let's get back to our posts."

The other two nodded, and we slowly moved back to the fence, the thought of what had just transpired weighing in heavily on my mind.

* * *

I told Marius what had happened when the night shift came around. None of us had really seen him during that as he was talking to some of the superiors about a rather sensitive subject that I could only guess had something to do with his orientation. But he listened, and he nodded, seeing why I would be perturbed about Hendrik's behavior and his justification for killing someone that was probably innocent. When I finished, he nodded slowly.

"I see," he said. "So that's what happened today."

I nodded. "It's been disturbing me a little," I said. "I could tell that the poor thing was trying to explain itself, but it came out so garbled that even I couldn't understand it."

Marius shrugged. "Well, it's not your fault that Hendrik decided to shoot it," he replied. "So there's that comfort. But there's a much more pressing question here."

"Why would he steal the box in the first place," I said, nodding. "You know, I had the exact same thought."

"I don't think we can go into what it was trying to say without figuring out what that was all about in the first place," suggested the Afrikaaner. "You told me it had a silver lock on it..."

"Yes," I said, remembering the way the metal shone in the sunlight. "It seems like it had something valuable in it. I also have a feeling it doesn't exactly belong to the poleepkwa that was being chased, but rather a close friend..."

At this, my companion gave me a curious look. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

"I knew the one that got the box back," I said. "He's a friend of another person, some 'Wilbur' or someone like that. He's a best friend, I should say, because whenever I see the person who got the box back, he always talks about Wilbur."

"Wilbur, huh?" asked Marius, taking out his clipboard and going through the list of people named Wilbur. After a few minutes, he nodded. "Wilbur Armstrong, MNU number 1,384,403. That's the only Wilbur on this list."

Frowning, I chuckled. "No wonder he's so well known around the district," I said. "He's the only Wilbur there. The MNU namers must have really hated the name Wilbur..."

"There used to be more," he replied, going through the list and pointing out a few examples to me. "But he's the only one that's still alive."

I nodded grimly, looking over to the tents. "So Wilbur is the only one of his name alive?"

"Apparently," he said. "According to this list, his family died during evictions. He's the only one left, and so he's apparently become emotionally compromised."

"Really?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "How does MNU know this?"

Marius shrugged. "There are suspicions that he is leaving the district in the middle of the night and only returning at just before the break of dawn," he said. "Either way, he has accrued quite a lot of curfew violations from various sightings by MNU personnel. But the thing is, he's extremely hard to track down. None of the guards knows where to look to find him, and I have a feeling even fewer people know where to start looking. Wherever Wilbur is, he knows he can't be seen by us, and so he decides to stay deep within the district where nobody can find him."

"And that would mean that he has his friend run around doing his errands..." I said, realizing exactly why Jonathan sometimes had to ask for help. "I see..."

There was a brief pause in the conversation, looking into the district as I let my shoulders relax. The two of us were silent for a short time, looking into the district as the stars twinkled above us ever so brightly. I felt rather odd thinking about what was in the box, and for me it was the greatest question I could possibly have asked myself in the district.

Finally, I turned to face Marius. "What do you think is in the box?" I asked.

The Afrikaaner simply cocked his head to the side. "Who knows?" he asked. "I don't think it's something that should concern us..."

"Maybe not," I agreed. "But still, I can't help but wonder..."

The two of us were silent for a short period of time afterwards, and then we both shrugged before returning to keeping watch on the district. We knew it did not concern us, and yet I could not help but feel that somehow it would relate to me a lot more than I thought it would at the time.

* * *

When I entered the tent that night, Jonathan was sitting there. I noted a relieved expression in his eyes, and then I looked to everybody else in the tent.

"So you made it out of there okay," I said.

The poleepkwa that had been pursued that day nodded. "_Thank goodness, too,_" he said. "_Wilbur really needed that box..._"

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why does he need it so much?"

Jonathan glanced around the room with a hand gesture. "_It's very important to him,_" he replied. "_If you hadn't stepped in, he would have thrown a fit..._"

Thinking about this a little bit, I frowned. "Wait, so this is a secret box?" I asked.

"_It would be the only reason why anyone would want to steal it,_" replied Caroline. I turned to look at her as she continued. _"Wilbur has always kept that box around with him for no truly apparent reason. He is very secretive about the contents of that particular box, and I think Jonathan and Harold are the only ones who have seen what is inside._"

I rose an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?" I asked. "I'm also assuming that they've sworn an oath not to tell anyone."

"_You've got that right,_" replied Harold with a shrug. "_To be honest, it would get him in huge trouble if anybody saw the contents of that box. Especially your colleagues..._"

Knowing I would not get an answer from them I nodded. "I won't ask what it is since it's obvious he doesn't want you to reveal that," I said. "In the meantime, though, why would anyone steal it?"

"_Maybe people take it the wrong way_," suggested Harold with a gesture of his claws. "_Wilbur treats that box like it's the only thing he has left in the world. And he also says it contains the most important thing in the district._"

Glancing around, I made no secret of how perturbed I was. "No wonder he wants to keep that box hidden," he said. "It's like he's a suspected terrorist..."

"_One thing I can tell you, though, is that even if he wasn't a terrorist Wilbur would get taken in by MNU anyway,_" replied Jonathan. "_Don't ask._"

"I wasn't planning to," I replied with a shrug. "It's his privacy; I would do well not to invade it."

Jonathan nodded. "_A wise choice,_" he replied. "_It won't get you killed that way._"

I chuckled good-naturedly. "Well, I'm glad everything's okay with the box," I said. "Just make sure to keep a better watch on it and it should be fine."

"_Of course,_" said Jonathan.

With this, I turned to face Matthew. "Story time?" I asked.

"_You bet!_" he said. "_What will we be hearing about today?_"

"Well, you'll be hearing about Oddyseus again, so here we go!"

By that night, we were already well into the events of the Odessy. And so, I told Matthew about Odysseus' journey into the underworld, where he met his mother. It was hard for him to contain his excitement of course, but I had come to expect that of the child. When I finally got to when Odysseus left the underworld, he was fast asleep, however, and so I nodded and smiled down on him.

"_He's peaceful when he sleeps,_" began Edward.

I agreed with this, turning to him. "Yes," I said simply. "Reminds me that this place can still be peaceful... sometimes, anyway."

"_That's kinda hard to believe,_" retorted Jamecyn from where she sat, David lying fast asleep in the bed behind her.

"_Agreed,_" added Mark from across the tent. "_It's not just you, either. There are all kinds of gang wars that go on in this district..._"

"Gang wars?" I asked. This piqued my curiosity, and as a result I shifted slightly where I sat, a perplexed look coming to my features. "There are gang wars in his place?"

"_Plenty,_" replied Jamecyn. "_I don't think a single one of you knows how bad it is out here..._"

"I can imagine..." I said. "How many gangs do you think there are?"

"_I wouldn't know,_" replied Mark slowly. "_But there are two major ones in this district. Neither conduct their activities with human involvement._"

I nodded. "It's illegal to organize," I added, remembering some of the more important MNU regulations I remembered. "But... I didn't think anybody was actually doing it..."

"_They haven't revolted yet, if that's what you mean,_" replied Jamecyn. "_The elites in charge are smarter than that. They'll wait. For now, they'll have to get over a stalemate within the district._"

"So until something happens to disturb the balance, we're safe?" I asked.

"_Mostly,_" replied Mark.

I made a mental note to be careful around the district, and with this I nodded softly. "All right," I said. "Caroline, do you have a story tonight?"

"_Of course!_" she exclaimed. "_Let's get to it!_"

* * *

**Once, long ago, the great lord of treachery Sorgeval had a faithful assistant. The assistant was a simple one, never making any promises to anyone since it would break them every chance it got. The sly one kept a good hold on its assistant, knowing how the assistant liked to work within parameters. Sorgeval kept its servant close, and the two held a strictly impersonal relationship.**

**The servant never cared anyway. It would decieve until the day it died.**

**Once on a whim, the servant decided it would attempt to decieve the great lord of deception itself. The great Sorgeval had given its assistant a job to do to decieve an elder one that had fallen in ranks. The servant was to promise it eliteship if it would only worship Sorgeval. The lord of deciet was keen on its soul, as its own halls were beginning to get lonely again thanks in part to Boreal. And Sorgeval was sure the elder one would find it a little more inviting than what it had felt in its own nest.**

**The servant instead murdered the offspring of the elder one. The servant forced cooperation with itself or else Sorgeval would take the elder one's soul earlier than intended. The elder one found itself complying almost by will, agreeing to Sorgeval's deal under such situations. The lord of deciet was unable to tell that the elder one was being forced into it, and so the servant continued to become such.**

**It was such that when the elder became an elite as promised, the servant began to make particular requests for the elder one to attempt to make. When the elder one refused, the servant made no attempt to disguise the deal with Sorgeval that it had made up. It would get the elite to do anything that the crafty one wanted, and so the elder did as it was told by the deception that the servant wielded. Sorgeval was of course oblivious to all of this, if only because of the constant lies.**

**And so, the state of the village the elder was in deteriorated as time went on. The others in the group began to suffer horribly, and the elite always would have made a move to stop it if not for the fact that Sorgeval's servant was right behind it and forcing it to go on. The elder one began to get progressively more agitated as time went on, the servant putting constant pressure on it and lying to Sorgeval.**

**Finally, when the soul was due for arrival, the elder one could not take it any more. It stole away in the middle of the night and journeyed quickly to Sorgeval's infernal realm. The master of deception welcomed the elder one warmly, with wide arms.**

**The elder one finally told Sorgeval all that the servant had done, from the murdering of the offspring to how the deal that it thought it had made with Sorgeval was unwilling to let it go. Upon hearing of the added part to the deal, however, Sorgeval flew into a fit of rage, loudly proclaiming that it had never would have taken its soul earlier than it did. The elder one was confused, but by that time Sorgeval had broken the contract between the elder one and itself. It told the elder one that its soul was no longer due to it and it was free to go, keeping its elite title to right the wrongs inflicted by the servant.**

**As for the decietful one, Sorgeval summoned it to its realm. Upon its arrival, Sorgeval's demons siezed the servant and brought it to the lord of deception himself. The lord blasted the servant for attempting to decieve it, and thus took its soul instead.**

**And now, the soul of Sorgeval's faithful servant was left to struggle in the flames of Karenaga for its treachery. For the master of deception knew what justice was, and so justice would be bestowed upon the servant forever after.**

* * *

"_The end._"

I rose my eyebrows as I packed my recording equipment away. "Well, he's not very faithful, now, is he?" I asked.

"_All wicked ones get their due in the end,_" replied Caroline. "_Whether it be in this life or the next._"

I glanced down, crossing my arms. "Some in this world don't believe in the next life," I replied softly. "Those tend to like their justice delivered in the next life..."

Jonathan seemed to notice this. "_He's still bothering you, isn't he?_" he asked.

By this, I assumed he was referring to Hendrik. "Yeah, Hendrik is a bit trigger happy," I replied. "Also, I fear he's very sadistic... Especially if what he said to me after he killed that poor thing holds any weight..."

The other poleepkwans nodded. "_Hopefully, we will be spared his wrath,_" stated Edward.

"I hope so too," I said. "I'd hate to have things changed around here by one overly sadistic person."

The others seemed to agree, as a consensus of clicks greeted me as I prepared to leave. "I'll leave you guys here," I said. "Stay out of trouble for me."

And with this, I left the tent, hoping for their security and also thinking about what they could possibly hope would be Hendrik's punishment for his deeds.


	20. Song of the Skeleton Flute

All right. So, I think that's enough arc set-up, isn't it?

I'll get on with it. So I bring you: cultural exchange!

* * *

Song of the Skeleton Flute

Quite some time passed after the incident with the box occured. I had left it with the feeling that I would not see the last of that particular box, but knowing that for then there was really not a whole lot I could do about it. I went into the district a few more times, and saw some things in there that would unsettle me just a little bit, but nothing like the hospital tent incident. David and I recorded most sicknesses known to humans but not to them, and so they became rather proficient in creating alternate treatments with what little they had to work with. Slowly, the conditions there began to improve, and before long there were empty cots laying around the tent.

Nothing much really seemed to happen as time went along. It was essentially the same thing. I went to spend a weekend with Tania and the baby a couple of times in October and then November, but other than that I stayed mostly in the district. The six of us finally got together and hung out one time during October, and we learned quite a few things about ourselves. I felt extremely uncomfortable around Hendrik, though, and so I resolved to keep the conversation away from any topics he might bring up in the future. I of course felt a little odd doing so, but I knew it was for the safety of my sanity.

In other words, life went on in district 10, with its usual downs and a few ups as well.

And then, on the first day of December, we were called to a briefing that morning. I was looking forward to the briefing as much as anyone. At least in my case, I knew it would be something else to find out about how people thought of the district. I expected that at the time.

What I was not expecting was for that one briefing to lead to an enlightenment in terms of culture to the poleepkwans within oppression.

* * *

James, Marius, and I had crowded into the briefing tent, and almost as soon as everybody had piled in there, the briefing started.

"Good day soldiers!" spoke the sergeant at the head of the room. "Well, today starts the holiday season! So we shall tell you that we will try to arrange for week-long leave for as many of you as we can. Whatever you celebrate, we'll try to accomodate it. Just contact your contacts in Johannesburg and come to us afterwards and we will try to arrange busses for all."

I shrugged, knowing I would have liked to talk to my family during Christmas with Tania there so she could meet some of the people I consider close to me. I nodded and turned to Marius with a small smile on my face as the others began to murmur amongst ourselves. "That doesn't sound too bad," I said. "Might be a good way to relieve stress."

"I'm looking forward to it myself," said James from the other side of Marius. "I'm hoping to visit cousins back in America. We've always got good times to go around there."

We were quickly hushed, though, as the commanding officer got our attention.

"However, this being December, I want to bring your attention to something you may or may not be aware of now," said the commanding officer. "Those of you that served in the old District 9, you may leave now as you are well aware of this information."

And immediately, a small contingent of guards began to stand and file out of the tent. I noticed Hendrik doing the same with a scowl on his face as the others filed out as well. I looked to my companions with a confused expression on my face.

"What is this about?" asked Marius between us as the murmuring began again.

"Obviously something only we need to hear about," I said, shrugging. "Whatever it is... let's hope it's all right..."

As soon as most of the guards had filed out of the tent, the sergeant turned to us again. "All right," he said. "That leaves us with the rest of you. Now, for those of you that don't know, the week of December that falls before the week that Christmas occurs is a very special holiday for those prawns. And this is so special that they don't do any fighting at all during this week."

I rose an eyebrow at this, thinking that perhaps this is what the people in the tent were alluding to. "For you see, during that week they celebrate... something," he continued. "We don't know what the fuck it is. But they don't put up any resistance during that time, so we're to leave them alone at all times. Only shoot if there is absolutely no other option. Otherwise, you will be hearing from me about it."

"Yes, sir!" came up throughout the tent.

"Good," said the commanding officer. "Now, this holiday involves a massive breaking of MNU regulations, so listen up. The regulations to be violated here will refer to all group-gathering regulations and to all regulations relating to chant and dance. As of our next briefing, all of those regulations will be void until the end of the week, so no killing anything. You got that?"

"Yes sir!" reprised the guards, some of them sounding a little disgruntled at this turn of events.

"Good. This meeting is adjourned."

And with this, the guards began to filter out of the tent. I just sat there with Marius and James, the two of them looking at me. At first, I was uncertain of how I felt about all of this information. But as the information was digested in my mind, I realized that this was what they had alluded to. And I suddenly realized that for the first time in our relations, a true cultural exchange was possible.

I smiled as I thought of this, and turned to James.

"I hope you're ready to loan me that laptop for an entire week," I said softly as I stood up.

* * *

That night, I made a beeline for Caroline's tent as soon as I was able to. Marius seemed to have understood what I was hinting at in the briefing tent, and he told me he would let James know what it was all about.

And so, when I parted the tent flap, I saw that David was missing. Raising an eyebrow, I entered, all of the poleepkwans looking at me with raised ridges.

"David's with Wilbur again, isn't he?" I asked.

"_Actually, for once, no,_" replied Jamecyn. "_He's with some other guys. They're helping get things together for the week before some of your holidays._"

"I see," I said, nodding. "Speaking of which, I heard that the week before the holiday I celebrate is something sacred for you?"

At the mere mention of it, Matthew seemed to be excited more than ever. The other adults in the tent seemed to gaze at him. I noticed that none of their gazes were reprimanding, however, but rather they were all warm.

"_It's a week of peace that all poleepkwans are biologically engineered to experience twice every lunar cycle,_" replied Edward.

"Really?" I asked. "What's it supposed to celebrate?"

"_It celebrates... our creation..._" replied Edward.

I rose my eyebrows. "What do you mean, it celebrates your creation?" I asked.

"_I phrase it like that simply because we have no true reason for celebrating it,_" added the larger poleepkwa. "_However, our history has given us reason to celebrate it after long enough. For this week celebrates when a grand war across the world ended and brought peace to poleepkwa everywhere._"

"_We've since called it the Festival of the Earth,_" added Caroline. "_We celebrate all of the gifts that Boreal and Sorgeval have given to us, and we celebrate brotherhood and peace together._"

"_It's the only time that we see our culture,_" said Harold. _"You should come to the festival the week it happens. There's chanting, dancing, rites... well, rites done with what we can find to substitute for what we had on the home world... But it's beautiful, Curtis. You should see our festival before you leave to celebrate your holiday_."

I nodded, biting my lower lip softly. "If only I could show you Christmas!" I said, lamenting slightly.

"_Well, we were thinking you could bring some examples of your crafts with the internet,_" replied Caroline. "_We haven't seen all that much admittedly, but we'd be interested to see how your culture does things on these kinds of days._"

"_Call it a... cultural exchange... if you will,_" added Edward.

"A cultural exchange?" I said. I rubbed my chin, thinking of how wonderful it would be to trade off knowledge of our holiday and our music. "I would like that. I told James to expect me to carry his laptop. I assumed correctly, I suppose."

"_Excellent!_" This came from Harold. "_But you better be ready to see the poleepkwan culture for yourself!_"

"I will!" I said. "Actually, I might bring my friend Marius with me too."

"_You mean, cat food man?_" asked Matthew innocently.

I found this dubbing of Marius to be too adorable for words. Letting out a brief chuckle and making a mental note to myself to tell Marius that the little child had said that, I nodded. "Yes, that's him," I said. "I think he'd like to see how you dance and sing as well."

Jamecyn, however, was not too amused by this. "_He better not be violent,_" she said.

I moved to speak, but Matthew was faster. "_He isn't,_" he said. "_He just sat there when I saw him. He and story man didn't seem to like each other..._"

Here, I couldn't hold back a laugh. As all attention went to me, I looked to Matthew. "Well, let me put it this way," I said. "If cat food man didn't like me, then I wouldn't exactly be here, telling you stories."

Matthew's eye ridge perked up. "_So you are friends!_"

"Indeed," I said, smiling softly at the child's innocense. "It's... hard to explain really. He won't cause you any trouble, I promise you."

"_Of course,_" intoned Jamecyn dubiously, crossing her arms with a less than amused expression on her face.

"_Now, now, Jamecyn,_" replied Mark. "_I trust Matthew, so we probably won't go so wrong with all this..._"

"_I know,_" replied the domineering poleepkwa. "_But still..._"

"To be fair, I can see your logic," I said. "Better safe than sorry, as the expression goes. But I trust Marius."

Jamecyn shrugged. "_Well, when you put it that way, I'll trust him,_" she said simply.

"_I look forward to meeting him in more depth this time,_" intoned the smaller blue-plated poleepkwa at the head of the tent.

"I'm sure he's looking forward to it too," I said. "Anyways, I think it's time I told a story to Matthew, yes?"

The young poleepkwan's attention was instantly grabbed, and he looked at me with a near wistful expression on his eyes.

"_Yay!_"

* * *

As soon as Matthew had fallen asleep, I had turned back to the others. We continued conversing a little bit more on what to expect of the exchange. I promised a few Youtube videos to them concerning the music and dance of people, and also a few things about how we celebrate Christmas.

And then, after that, I got a rather odd gem of a story that served as a bit of a prelude to our small cultural exchange.

**

* * *

**

**Once, long ago, there was a queen of a grand colony. It was fair towards all in its domain, and there were few that were not comfortable in its realm. Peace prospered in the land, and all was well.**

**But then, the queen disappeared, throwing everything into chaos. It was decided by the elites that the queen would immediately be replaced with a younger sibling that had been named should the present queen have been defeated. And thus, arrangements were made to make the subordinate one queen. It picked a mate, and the ceremony was all set to go.**

**A small bard was called to attend the ceremony to make music for the sweet lord there. The bard, however, had lost its flute on its way to the realm, and so was unable to find anything.**

**But then, it happened across a large piece of exoskeleton that was lying, partly buried in the ground that was by it when it looked for materials to make a flute with. Pulling the piece of skeleton out of the ground, the bard fashioned a flute out of this bone. The bard strangely found that the flute seemed to carve itself as it created the holes in the material and fashioning the end into a mouthpiece. Right then, the bard knew that this would be no ordinary flute, but rather a flute of the strangest kind. Expecting a lovely sound to come out of it, the bard tested the flute.**

**When the flute was played, however, it seemed to relate something in its native language. Frowning and stopping a little bit, the bard played a standard tune that it knew very well, and almost instantly the bard realized the flute was attempting to speak to it. Listening as it played, the bard found the bone flute was telling a tale of horror through its sorrowful song. Glancing at the instrument, the bard made haste to the realm in which the new queen was to be erected that very day.**

**At the ceremony, there was much rejoicing as the queen was brought up to position. The ceremony had gone well, but when it had come to the bard's song, the bard was slightly late. When it arrived, it was sneered at in scorn. Its urgent plea to hear the song of the flute it had so masterfully crafted was heard by all at the crowd, and so the bard was allowed to sit down and play its flute.**

**And at once, a series of clicks rang out, almost in rhyme:**

**"Oh, dear sisters, hear my song,  
For it is a tale of a treason most foul,  
Told by a soul in a state so wrong.**

**For you, great queen, you lecherous soul,  
Have caused me to die for your own gain.  
But I will not be silenced, you fool,**

**This flute made of my life's soul-grain,  
Will silence you and and show your deed  
****And will give you your overdue pain."**

**And with this, the celebration instantly fell into shambles. The new queen was disgraced, and the crowd tore the new queen in ten parts. And all was restless in the new kingdom, and sorrow and pain came crashing into its inhabitants for the remainder of the day. But then, the bard demanded attention, suggesting the flute be played again to satisfy their need. The flute then spoke these words:**

**"Dear sisters, hold up your head,  
For not all is lost, as you might think.  
Listen to me, my words do heed:**

**Sing out your loss, and go to the water.  
There you will see a guardian father,  
Call out to him,  
With words quite grim,  
For Boreal's servant will guide you to good weather."**

**Listening to the flute, the soldiers did as they wre told. Slowly, they journeyed to the nearest body of water. There, an ethereal being was seen hovering over the water. The throng called out, and Boreal's servant heard them. Slowly, the angel moved to the people, and gave them a blessing.**

**And the angel ruled over the deceased queen's domain for many lunar cicles thereafter.**

* * *

"_The end._"

I blinked uncertainly, switching the device off. Almost as soon as I did, I looked to Caroline.

"I didn't know your kind could make poetry," I said. "And poetry thats translatable, too!"

Caroline raised an eye ridge at this. "_Translatable?_" she asked.

I shrugged. "We have so many languages in our world that oftentimes the meaning of a phrase is lost when we try to change it into another," I said. "I'll explain during our cultural exchange. But, it has to do with all the different cultures on this earth and the fact that we don't exactly have a universal language like you do."

"_I see..._" spoke Edward then. "_I guess you should be heading back?_"

"Yes," I replied, gathering myself together. "I'll see you again shortly."

And with this, I bowed out of the tent, moving back through the district towards Marius.


	21. Of Christmas

All right. So begins the cultural exchange arc. I'll be taking a few excerpts from the week before, touching on various things about poleepkwan culture and how they'd relate to human culture. I might post stories, I might not. Either way, the conversations resulting from this will be... interesting, to say the least.

Let's get on with it, shall we?

* * *

Of Christmas

The week before Christmas could not have come any later than it did. During that time, though, I kept myself pretty busy trying to surf around the internet, read up on things that they could understand about my holiday. I knew what I would have to say to get them to understand my religion first, and then I would tell them how we viewed our holiday.

I had also requested for leave the week of Christmas, and that was being arranged as many others were attempting to do the same thing. I figured I'd spend the holiday with Tania for maybe a day before heading back home to Glasgow for the holiday to be with my parents for a week. I imagined they were getting all lonely with myself in Johannesburg and Andrew in Paris, and so I asked Piet to make some travel arrangements. He seemed a little dismayed at this as he hoped I would be staying in Johannesburg with Tania, but he booked a flight so I would be in Scotland on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Since Christmas fell on a Saturday that year, though, I would have to leave the very next day, which was unfortunate for me seeing as how I would barely get to see them. But I supposed being able to see them was better than nothing, as my time with the ones in the tent attested to.

And so, I prepared to take part in the cultural exchange, in which I would get started pretty soon after the last time I had gone in.

* * *

They had not called me into the district during the day, and I naturally assumed this would hold for quite some time, waiting for the week before Christmas to call me into the district.

Of course, I brought the laptop along the first night of our exchange. Of course, I probably would not need it. And that would hold true when I entered the tent that night, as I never took it out of the armor to use it.

Instead, when all eyes in the tent went to me, I knew they wanted to know about the holiday we were celebrating. I sat down softly, and then I slapped my hands against my knees. Everyone was in that tent that night, all of their attentions on me.

"So," I said. "Tonight's the first night of our exchange. What shall I talk about?"

"_Well..._" began Edward. "_Since we told you about our holiday, we figured we would ask about yours._"

I nodded. "Fair enough," I said. "Although, to be honest, December is full of them for various people."

Caroline raised an eyebrow ridge, an arm laying across her lap. "_Really?_" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "For now, I'll talk about my own holiday, since I celebrate it."

"_And that would be this 'Christmas' that I overhear you talking about,_" said Mark.

"Yep," I said, crossing my arms. "Christmas... actually takes two days. Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day is what we refer to them as."

"_Ah?_" asked Caroline. "_Why two days?_"

I opened my mouth to reply when I paused, realizing she had a point. I still could not remember why Christmas took place over the course of two days instead of one. But thinking of this, I simply shrugged.

"I am honestly not sure," I said. "But... it is a holiday that many, many people take seriously, if only because of religious reasons."

Jamecyn rose her eye ridge. "_I didn't know you guys had religion,_" she said.

I rolled my eyes as I thought of all the complications religion had brought to our planet. "Lots of them, too," I said. "There are so many religions around here I'm afraid we've fought one war too many over all of them."

"_Really?_" asked Harold. "_You mean, that there's no standardized religion here?_"

"I'm afraid not," I said. "It would be nice if we did, though. I'm telling you, the extremes some people are willing to go on this planet... I'll have to tell you some other time, though, as we're going off topic."

"_Of course,_" said Caroline, blue carapace shifting slightly. "_So, why's it so big for your religion?_"

Glancing around, I gestured. "Well, in my religion, it's believed that a man was born that was the son of our God. His name was Jesus Christ. He came down and preached out a message of acceptance to all. There's a whole cultural aspect to it that would take forever to explain, but he was hung on a cross by the empire and thus died to save our sins..."

At this, all the antennae in the tent went up. "_Wait, he died for your sins?_" asked Jamecyn.

"_I'm not sure I understand that..._" admitted Harold. "_How does dying for your sins mean that the entire world is absolved of them? I mean... you're still sinning._"

"That's true..." I said. "But, he gave us a chance to be redeemed, and for a shot at paradise in the afterlife," I said. "Our God loves us all, apparently, although I'm not sure why he doesn't just intervene now."

Caroline shrugged. "_Gods tend to do that a lot, apparently,_" she pointed out.

Blinking, I rose my eyebrow. "You know, I never thought of it like that," I said. "Almost all mythologies arise out of a spiritual side of humanity that we all need to celebrate... and all of them have had something to teach us... but the gods never go in on us like that..."

"_Yeah,_" said Jamecyn as she hugged her knees close to her body. "_Boreal and Sorgeval certainly don't intervene as much as they could right now._"

"_Maybe they just don't care?_" postulated Harold, raising a finger in the air as he did.

"I... honestly can't answer that question," I said. "But anyways, he died for our sins, and so he's become a huge figure in our church."

"_So Christmas is the day he died?_" asked Mark.

Blinking, I looked to the parent poleepkwa. "No," I said. "Christmas is the day of his birth."

"_Oh,_" said David. "_Well, how do you celebrate the birth of someone who died... how many cycles ago?_"

I was not sure how to calculate this lunar cycle into our years, or even if there was a calculation. So I replied, "Two thousand human years," I said.

"_One thousand lunar cycles, then,_" said Edward. "_Does anybody know where he was born?_"

"He was born in a manger," I said, shrugging. "But I'm pretty sure that by now it no longer exists."

"_Then... then how do you celebrate birth when you can't even leave gifts at his birthplace?_" asked Caroline.

I shrugged. "We celebrate a special kind of mass," I said. "Where we get together for an hour and pray. It's... pretty much what the devoted people do. Some others give a bunch of gifts to their children..."

"_So we get lucky on Christmas?_" asked Matthew innocently.

I shrugged, closing my eyes briefly. "Yes," I replied. "You get exceedingly lucky, I should think. Although..." I glanced briefly at the entrance of the tent, and the group understood my meaning.

"_Yeah, it sucks that it's in this dump,_" said Jamecyn. "_But come that day, we can probably work something out._"

"_What I don't get, though, is how the gift giving transfers to your own children,_" pointed out Mark.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how either," I admitted. "It's just the way things have been for as long as I can remember. But I look at it this way: I like to think it's celebrating life in its own strange little way. The birth of Christ is celebrated, so I like to think that we channel that through our own children."

"_That's quite a bit of wishful thinking there,_" said Harold with a shrug.

"It probably is," was my reply, and I looked over to the poleepkwa. "But still, wishful thinking is good."

Caroline nodded at this, shifting slightly. "_And what about the adults?_" she asked. "_What do they do?_"

"They either host gatherings where their whole family gets together, get the gifts for the children, or hold the prayers," I replied with a shrug. "It depends honestly. I personally don't have any children at all, so I just go and make prayers..."

"_So it is also about being with loved ones,_" pointed out Edward.

"Yes," I replied.

The blueish poleepkwa looked out to its tentmates. "_All of a sudden, I fail to see the religious significance of this holiday,_" he said. "_Now to me, it sounds like celebrating just being alive. Our concept of the spirit may be vastly different from yours, but... wouldn't that sort of mindset have... tainted the holiday?_"

I rose an eyebrow at this, crossing my arms as I kept up a partly confused glance. "Really?" I asked. "Tainted? Why do you say that?"

"_We celebrate our own holiday in celebration of a grand event that has always been so,_" said Caroline. "_And we celebrate with dancing, singing... more things to connect to our spiritual side._"

Rubbing my chin, I glanced around at the tent. "But you're celebrating a tangible event that most of you don't even know all that much about because it happened on your home world," I pointed out. "So, barring the whole 'biological clock' thing for a second, how would you celebrate the spirit with something that occurred in the real world?"

The others were silent after this question, looking to each other. Glancing around, Edward finally provided a consensus by shrugging.

"_You got us there,_" intoned Harold playfully, rubbing a hand along his brown carapace as he spoke. "_And here I was figuring there would be more differences between our holiday and yours._"

"Well, when we factor in the biological clock, there are," I replied. "For example, the birth of our savior, so to speak, probably did not occur on Decmeber 25th. Not a lot of us are sure, because we don't have that kind of sense of... timing that you do. It's... a bit hard to explain."

Jamecyn gave me a raised eye ridge in response. "_Really?_" she asked. "_That's not what your choice of words have been saying._"

I shot a curious glance at the green poleepkwa before shrugging. "I don't know," I replied. "We're all completely individual, in that we can't boss other people around unless we give a name to ourselves and try to put it there. It's not biologically built into our bodies like it is with you. We... don't have that kind of sense of connection with each other. And I'm sure it works the same way with how you view time."

"_I see..._" said Caroline with a nod. Mark's mouthparts clicked together. "_But still, I think it would be a lot to take a week off just to celebrate two days._"

I shook my head, chuckling softly. "It's not just those two days," I said. "There are two other religious holidays that various people celebrate in this month. It's insane how many holidays there are in December."

At this, everybody in the tent rose an eye ridge. "_So it's not just that one you were just telling us about,_" replied David.

I shook my head. "If we include your week of peace, then that would be four holidays that we celebrate over the course of more than a single day," I stated. "As for the other two we celebrate... they would be called 'Hannukah' and 'Kwanzaa'."

Without skipping a beat, I began to talk about how those two holidays worked, and our conversation continued quite peacefully.

* * *

When I returned to my post that night, Marius looked at me, noticing my smile.

"How'd the first night go?" he asked.

"Went pretty well," I said perkily. "We really only talked about my holiday. No story that could relate to it, unfortunately, but I expected that if I want to be perfectly honest with myself."

Marius nodded, looking at me. "You celebrate Christmas, right?"

"Yes," I said, crossing my arms in front of me. "But I'll be in Glasgow for two days, so I can't help you there I'm afraid. Apologies."

"No, no, it's fine," replied Marius. "I was just curious is all."

"And yourself?" I asked. "I assume it's Christmas as well?"

He smiled. "You're quite sharp," he told me.

Smiling. "I don't know, but I'm feeling quite good about myself," I said. "I can't wait to see how they view everything about music and dance."

"I'd imagine it's a big part of them," said Marius with a shrug. "It's probably like how we... used... to treat music..."

"We'll have to see," I said. "But for now, I'm looking forward to not being disappointed."

Marius glanced at me before we returned to our positions, the sun beginning to rise ever so slowly in the horizon as we continued to speak and watch over the district.


	22. Of Music

Okay, so we talked about how holidays are viewed.

Today, let's talk about art forms. So obviously, human music will be different from poleepkwan music, and that stuff. So how do we reconcile that?

Cultural exchage!

* * *

Of Music

The next night, I had stowed away the laptop into my armor, and I had struck up a conversation with Marius before I went in.

"You know, this holiday they have..." I began. "It's like a week of peace."

Marius rose an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "It's such a beautiful concept, the more I think about it."

The Afrikaaner gestured with his hands, a smile coming to his face as he did the action. "It seems like December is a week of peace for everyone on this side of the world..." he said.

"That much is true," I realized with a chuckle.

We stood there in silence for a while, and then I remembered thinking about what I wanted to ask him. I was hoping he would be all right with staying in the district. This time we could probably get away with going into the district, at least at night when the guards would not be using their lights on the district. And so, I turned to Marius, clearing my throat.

"Say, Marius," I said. "If you had an opportunity to come to the holiday with me, then... would you?"

The Afrikaaner gave me a furtive glance. "Are you asking me out on a date?" he asked preemptively.

Stiffening slightly, I shook my head. "No!" I said. "I'm not asking you out on a date! But... I would like your company when I go to the festival with my tent. So..."

Marius seemed a trifle disappointed, but this seemed to fade quickly. Thinking briefly, he nodded. "Sure," he said. "I'd definitely like to meet the tent people. They all sound like pretty nice people. Except for possibly Jamecyn, who looks too fiery for her own good."

"You'd be surprised," I said. "She can show quite a bit of restraint when the situation calls for it."

"Either way, I can imagine I will have fun with them," he replied. "I look forward to the cultural exchange."

"All right," I said. "So I'll tell them you plan to come."

He nodded, smiling. "I would like that, yes."

We stood there for a while longer, thinking about how things would go with that.

* * *

I walked into the tent that night with a smile on my face. Looking inside the tent, I see everyone except Jamecyn and David inside. Raising my eyebrows, I look to the other occupants.

"Where's Jamecyn and David?" I asked.

"_Out,_" replied Mark. "_Jamecyn had to go help Wilbur again, and David had to go patch up some people at the medical tent. He's grateful for your information on your diseases, by the way. It's helped them make a lot of treatments for the sick._"

"Really?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. "Would you mind taking me in there so I can check on them, Caroline?"

"_Of course,_" replies the poleepkwa.

I nod happily, getting out the laptop slowly and laying it on the cot that Jamecyn and David usually occupy. I turn the computer on and nod. "Okay," I say. "Now, I figured that we might want to talk a bit about music today since we'll be hearing that a lot during the coming week, right?"

The others nodded. Edward pointed it out. "_So we should tell you about our music while your computer is booting up,_"

"Of course," I reply. "So, what is the idea behind your music?"

"_Music... is usually used to celebrate things,_" said Edward then. "_At this point, it is all passed down as we remember. We just... know them, somehow. And the chant circles can be so wide to accomodate certain songs..._"

I rose my eyebrows. "Why would you want so many people?" I asked. "Doesn't it usually get in the way of cooperation?"

"_We have pheremones for that,_" replied Caroline with a shrug. "_One person leads the chant, and then they excrete something that allows the others to keep a steady pulse._"

"So it's like African drumming," I say.

"_Not exactly,_" replies Edward. "_Our pitches slowly rise from that. One rhythm enters, and then another, and then another until eventually the rhythms are indistinguishable from any one point. We all fall out pretty quickly out of that, and our speed at reaching that point changes depending on what we sing. It is... energetic..._"

My brother Andrew was a musician, of course, so I knew just enough about music to know what this could possibly mean. However, I was not amused. To me, it sounded a lot like something that Stockhausen would do. And from what I understand, people _still _can't understand some of his music. And so, I was alarmed."

"So... the effect is that it either slowly or rapidly builds up so it sounds like one note?" I asked.

"_Yes,_" replied Caroline, nodding. "_Why?_"

"Well... I don't know how to put it, but a lot of people wouldn't be interested in that..." I said, logging into the laptop. "You'll see why in just a bit."

They tilted their heads. Harold was the only one to vocalize their thoughts. "_Are you saying our music is bad?_" he asked.

Chuckling, I shook my head. "No," I said, logging onto the internet and heading to Youtube. "I'm just saying that our music is... quite different."

With this, I typed in something. Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 6, "Pathetíque". It was my father's favorite piece of music, and he wanted at least a CD of the last movement playing during his funeral. Such gorgeous music, too; I decided to give them that to show them what we would consider beautiful in our music. I was already beginning to dread their reaction, though, as what they told me of their music was quite different from what I had expected.

I find a video on Youtube, and I nod. Clicking on the link, the page loaded, and I unmuted the laptop's speakers as soon as I could. I brought the computer to the center of the tent, the group looking on as they see this.

And then, the first impassioned chord sounds. They're quite taken aback by it, but they continue to listen as the movement goes on. The solemnity of the music goes by quickly enough that they seem to understand the difference, but they seem to move slowly. At first, I can't seem to make out what they feel about it, but as time went on, I realize their silence is more profound than I initially feared it would be. When the last bass pizzicato sounded and the movement ended, they were silent for quite a while, trying to soak it in.

Finally, they turn to me, and I can see all of their eyes glinting in... sadness? I am not sure.

"_That... was very different,_" began Edward. "_But... at the same time... it was... beautiful..._"

I nod, wondering how they felt about it.

"_It's so... depressing..._" added Mark. "_I didn't think music could convey such an emotion._"

"_It's so different... and yet so personal..._" he added. "_How... how does music like this exist?"_

I shrugged. "In my culture, music is taken as a personal epression as much as a public expression," I said, shifting where I sat as I took the laptop back. "Mind you, we still have religious functions for it, and we still do play it to celebrate certain things, but some people take it as a very personal expression of something that words can't even describe."

"_It's so beautiful like that..._" added Caroline. "_Music that conveys an emotion... It's... I can't even describe it. I hope you have a better time of it._"

"Honestly, we have as much trouble trying to describe it as you do!" I said, gesturing there. "The music conveys an emotion, yes, but... we can't figure out what exactly about it gives it that emotion in the first place. And so, we try to look into it to find out what it is. And even from that... it gets multiple interpretations..."

Edward rose an eyebrow. "_Really?_" he asks. "_Why don't they just let the unexplained be unexplained?_"

I looked at the blueish poleepkwa, myself raising my eyebrows. "You know, I don't know," I said. "As time has gone on, music has taken on so many qualities that it's almost insane. It's even begun to get logical. Which brings me back to what your music sounds like. To us, your music would sound too logical, and not a whole lot of people would get it."

"_Logical? Really?_" asked Caroline. "_We certainly wouldn't describe it like that..._"

"Exactly," I said, gesturing to her. "And that is why they would find it wierd."

"_Especially since we can't see music as having emotion behind it,_" said Mark. "_That was lovely, but it was hard to get used to at first!_"

"I can imagine," I said, gesturing to them. "Our music is so inherently different it's astounding..."

"_I can imagine it would be incredibly jarring for you when you think about it once the festival comes along,_" said Caroline.

I nod. "That it will be."

We're silent in the tent. Matthew seemed to be curious, and so he looked at me.

"_Those... super compact things..._" he said. "_They're made of so many notes..._"

"_That's another thing,_" said Harold, antennae tilting slightly. "_I noticed that there were a lot of notes in there._"

I nodded. "I've been used to that for as long as I can remember," I replied. "It's part of our music, instead of singular notes."

The others nodded. "_I guess that that's another thing that would change things,_" said Edward. "_It seems our music went down a fundametally different path from yours._"

"Probably due to your evolutionary track," I pointed out, and then point at my mouth. "See, we can sustain tones longer than you can with your own language, like this." I let out a rather long tone, and they all looked at me with a strange look on their faces. When I paused, I pointed to Harold's mouth. "Your mouth, meanwhile, doesn't seem to be biologically built for that. So your music is more centered on rhythms than sustaining something. At least, that's how I see it."

The others nodded at this. "_It certainly sounds credible,_" said Caroline. "_And it makes quite a bit of sense. Although... it does sound a little racist._"

"_Well, you never know, Caroline,_" said Harold, shifting slightly where he sat. "_I'd think any statement like that will come out racist no matter how much you try to make it sound nice._"

"Thank you, Harold," I said, smiling softly. "But anyways, that's a discussion for another time. I wonder what could have made your evolutionary tracks so different from ours..."

Edward seemed slightly alarmed at this, as he rose an eye ridge at me, mouthparts moving restlessly as he did. "_I'm not sure I should be worried about that or not..._"

"It's not an answer I'd expect you to know," I replied then. "It's probably more fit for someone who remembers the home world..."

"_Indeed,_" said Caroline, looking to Edward.

"_But still..._" said Edward. But Caroline touched his arm lightly, and he stopped his train of thought.

"_Please, he doesn't mean any harm by that,_" she assured him, glancing briefly at me before looking at her mate.

I rose my eyebrow, but I chose to remain quiet. It seemed like something only Caroline could really do. And as the seconds passed by, he processed something in his mind, and then he nodded.

"_All right,_" he said. "_But I'm still a little nervous._"

I chuckled. "Actualy, I'm a little nervous myself!" I replied. "I've never seen you get that agitated before! I almost thought you had been posessed by something else!"

"_It's only when I'm not certain of something,_" he said. "_Like whether you truly meant any harm by talking about our evolutionary tracts..._"

"_Oh, hell,_" said Mark, shaking his head. "_What he means is that it's a bit of a taboo to talk about the ancestors in such a casual manner amongst us._"

"Oh. Oh!" I realize, starting slightly. I realized what I had done in that short second, and shook my head. "Oh, dear..." I said. "I'm terribly sorry about that... I... I honestly didn't know... Damn..."

"_That's all right,_" he nods. "_You couldn't have known that._"

"_But still, the music does sound different,_" said Caroline, attempting to bring the conversation back on track. "_Speaking of which, what about the more 'logical' music that you talked about?_"

"Oh, yes, serialism!" I say, going back to the laptop and typing a new item into the YouTube search bar. "Give me one second..."

I typed down the name of my brother's favorite Boulez piece and pressed enter.

* * *

We listened to more human music that night and compared it. They were awed that such emotion could come out of something that was so rooted in ritual for them that music and ritual were virtually inseperable. By the time the night ended, I was convinced that it was due to more than their evolutionary tracts, although that was a large part of it.

I had gathered that a lot of things they celebrated happened simply by instinct. This was something I found extremely thought-povoking in its implications. I eventually gathered that the entirety of poleepkwan culture was embedded in their instincts somehow. It must have been a massive culture shock when they arrived on earth and found something so totally different from what thousands, maybe even millions of years of natural engineering must have done. It must have been quite a shocker for them.

And here they were, trapped somewhere where they could find no culture to be had except for the week of peace that was worked into their biological clock. It was...

When I first thought about it, the implications were horrifying. They were stuck in a place they did not know well, and they were being denied what was in their biological plan. And to be banned from doing chants, dancing, or getting together...

For the first time, the true horror of District 9 hit home. And I was very afraid for them.


	23. Of Dance

Okay, so lastly, we have to talk about human and poleepkwan dance. What does that do? We'll see how the comparisons gel together.

For now, here we go!

* * *

Of Dance

I went into the district after Caroline the next day, and we slowly walked to the medical tent. I knew that according to them the situation had improved, but I was still approaching the tent with a little trepidation. I did have to deal with the alien that had been ill with AIDS, and somewhere I was just a little unsure of what would come to pass there.

To be honest, I was also partly scared that my work would have no effect on them. David may have said that just to derail my attention, I remember thinking. It may not have actually helped anyone at all. It may have made things worse for some people. They may not have been able to improvise the way they say they had. Or they may not have taken my advice seriously just because I was human. I guess it was more a selfish indulgence that caused my trepidation, and I tried not to dwell on that portion of it.

But the more I ignored it, the more it ate away at me. And so I walked forward, feeling more and more anxious with each passing step.

Caroline seemed to sense my distress, and so she looked down at me, her eyes shining kindly. She left a hand on my shoulder and gave me a glance.

"_Is something wrong?_" she asksed

I fidgeted around a little nervously before I noded. "Yes," I said. "I... I'm still a little frightened of the medical tent. I am still afraid of seeing what I saw there last time. All that suffering..."

She seems to understand this, and she nods softly. "_I see..._" she says. "_One can understand your trepidation. Know also that it is unfounded._"

I cross my arms. "I know I shouldn't be worried," I said. "But still... I'm afraid for them. I'm afraid that they might lapse into that state of unhygenic care again... And I'm afraid I'll run into a case almost exactly like that poor guy I saw when I first came in here. I still don't think it will be a pretty picture at all..."

The poleepkwa nodded at this. When I had told her my trepidations, we were nearing the medical tent. With her other hand, she gestured to it, a kind gesture. "_Well, we're almost there, so you'll get to see it for yourself."_

With this, she leaves my side, approaching Harold as he lifts up a tent flap and enters. She gives me a glance, as if I want to go in, and I stand there for a moment. I look at her, and then I saw how her light turquoise carapace seems to shimmer in the sun like the Carribean Sea. When I looked at her, there was something... strangely beautiful about her. It was like she had become an odd version of Athena, watching over man and doling out sagely advice. Sappy line, I know, but there was simply no other way to describe it. I sat there, watching her as I fidgeted nervously. And finally, I spoke.

"Promise me that if it is still worse than I think, that you'll be there," I said then. "Just... please, promise me that much."

She nodded, and she held out her claw to me.

"_Very well, then,_" she said in reply. "_I promise._"

And I felt marginally better. The fear was still there, but it was tempered now. And I felt grateful to Caroline. I walked to the tent flap slowly, parting it as I entered. My poleepkwa companion was behind me, and she stood behind me the entire time, almost as if holding a shield out to defend me.

When I entered, I saw that the tent's condition had indeed improved. It was no less clean, but the first thing that came to my attention was that there were a few empty cots lying around. That would be news by itself, but I remember that the last time I had come there were also a few poleepkwans that were lying on cloths on the ground. At this, I realized my fears were mostly unfounded, as the tent was a little emptier than I remember.

But I still reeled back at the smell. It was as bad as I remember it to be. But I was still relieved that there were less ones sitting there. I looked around the tent, and I nodded.

"It's an improvement, at any rate," I said, indicating the tent. "I wouldn't exactly call it perfect, but it's still much better than what I saw last time."

Caroline nods. "_Good to know,_" she said, gesturing around.

I saw Eleanor working on a patient, and she seemed to be working diligently on the alien. This time, I saw a little more hope across her features as she bandaged a cracked leg plate over a poleepkwa. A very minor injury, I took it to mean, and I smiled at her as she worked. She noticed this, and she glanced up at me. We saw each other before she nodded. Clicking her mandibles together in what I could only assume at the time to be an appreciative gesture, she turned back to her patient, working all the more diligently until the leg had been bandaged completely. She then picked up everything she had and slowly came to face me. She was still a little shaky when she approached me, but when we were finally standing in front of each other, she nodded.

"_David... he gave me some of your diseases,_" she said.

"So I hear," I replied, nodding. "So, I'm guessing it's a little better."

"_Humans... have the strangest diseases,_" she said, rubbing her arm slightly. "_We didn't know what to do about that. Thanks to the information you've given us, though, we've found ways of purging our systems of them..._"

I nodded, and I smiled at her. I was beginning to feel a little better that I was in fact making a difference in the district. "Well, if I ever catch one of your diseases... what do you think will happen?"

Eleanor seemed to hesitate with her reply, glancing back at Caroline. When I heard a click from a mandible, I rose an eyebrow. I remember thinking about how odd it must have been for the response to be so delayed, but that was really the only very strange part about it. Looking back, though, I should have realized that it was only one part of a huge dilemma that the poleepkwans found themselves in.

"_I don't know,_" she said. "_We've never really gotten a case like that before..._"

I don't know what gave me the indication, but I knew she was lying almost from the start. I wasn't about to press her for the truth, however; the poor thing was already terribly frightened of my race as a whole. I was not about to exacerbate that fear, and I was certainly not going to push her on something that was obviously beyond her control.

And so, I simply nodded. "I see..." I said, nodding. "But still, we'll be able to figure out what happens."

"_Of course_," said Eleanor, nodding. "_Thank you for all of your help..._"

"You're welcome," I said, and I nodded to her. "You should get back to your patients. They look like they need you."

"_Yes, I should... Thank you again._" she said, bowing quickly. She then returned among her people, caring for all of the sick that were there, bandaging wounds, and being as good a nurse as possible.

I smile as I turn to Caroline. "Things certainly improved from the last time I was here," I told her. "Not by much, but still... In this place, it's better than nothing."

"_I did say your fears were unfounded,_" replied Caroline, gesturing to them. "_Now that we have less patients to work with on a regular basis, we can get to more patients that are really in trouble._"

I nodded at this, and then moved to leave. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you tonight?" I asked, parting the tent flap.

The poleepkwa gave me an odd look, her eyes seeming imploring. "_Let me escort you back to your people first,_" she told me. "_I wouldn't like it if you died on the way there._"

I chuckled and shook my head. "But I won't die on my way there," I replied. "That much, I promise. Have a little more faith in me, Caroline."

"_It's dangerous for you to walk around alone during the day,_" she pointed out. "_Let me escort you there._"

I thought about Caroline's proposal for a brief period of time and realized that she did have a point. I relented, gesturing out of the tent with my only free hand.

"After you, then," I said.

And with that, we both walked out of the district. I remember talking about some matters in the tent that were not too important when I think back. We spent the entire time talking as we headed back to my world, and I began to feel something different when I talked to her. Thinking back, I realize that all of the conversations had a certain business-like tone to them, even when we were busy discussing more personal matters. This was the first conversation we had where I felt completely at ease. And somehow, I began to feel a little odd.

I brushed off the feeling back then, however, and I allowed myself to relax as we talked.

And just as I was in vision, she left me to go off on her own. And then I looked after her briefly, feeling very different about myself. I returned to my people, feeling oddly empty as I did, and I couldn't help but think about Caroline for most of the rest of the day.

* * *

I went to their tent that night with James' laptop again, and this time there was a bit of a light spring in my step. When I arrived at the tent, I found the full group there, with Caroline sitting there. For some reason, she stood out to me more than she normally did that night. Maybe it's because I noticed her first. Either way, I feel pretty good about this. I don't know why.

"_So..._" said Harold. "_I guess we're gonna talk about dance today?_"

I nodded at this. "Indeed we are," I replied, opening the laptop and turning it on. "And I'm expecting this to go in many interesting directions, especially if our talk on music said anything."

"_I'm assuming it's something similar?_" asked Edward, tilting his head to the side.

I shook my head softly. "Not exactly," I said, glancing back at them. "It depends on how you view dance as a form of expression, I guess."

"_Well, that depends,_" said Caroline. "_From what I've seen... It's an expression of devotion to a higher being. It shows... some admiration about being alive and how it is wonderful._"

"_Athough to be honest, I wonder what the fuck someone would want to live for in here,_" quipped Jamecyn bitterly.

I shrugged. "Well, you do still have something to be thankful for, right?" I pointed out. "I mean... Well, you do have someone trying to help you out here..."

Jamecyn nodded at this. "_Of course,_" she said. "_At least you give a shit..._"

"_When you put it like that,_" said David immediately after. "_It kind of sounds beautiful."_

And with this, I shrug. "I'm pretty sure a lot of cultures here look at dance very differently," I said. "But... for starters, some do look at dance the same way you do, surprisingly."

At this, I saw Edward's eye ridge rise. "_Truly?_" he asked. "_I guess we are more alike than we thought..._"

"Yeah," I said, shrugging. "Most African tribes tend to celebrate their rituals with dances. And often times, they'll put on elaborate costumes and something like that. So in some ways, dance is a way of celebrating something."

By this time, my computer had finished booting up, so I looked at it and smiled. "And then there are some that try to tell stories with movement," I continued, going to Youtube.

The others raised their eye ridges. "_Telling stories with movement?_" asked Caroline skeptically. "_I see... I'm guessing it's not linked to anything religious..._"

At this, I paused as I brought the cursor over to the Youtube search bar. "Uh... not usually, no," I replied. "Sometimes it'll involve some of our fairy tales, but not always."

"_Interesting,_" said Edward.

"_This oughta be fun,_" said Harold as he watched over Matthew. "_It'll be interesting to see how they tell it, anyway. How do you go about telling story with gestures?_"

I shook my head at this. "It's not only gesture," I said as I scrolled down the list of videos that came up. "It's wth general body movement, if you must know."

I turned the computer so that it was facing them almost as soon as I said this. I maneuvered the mouse a little more, and then gestured to the screen. "This is how we do it when we tell a story," I said.

And then I heard the sound of Tchaikovsky come from the music's speaker. It was completely different, however, as the music heard from there was not from one of his symphonies but rather from _Sleeping Beauty_. I think I put on the Little Red Riding Hood variation, I'm not sure what it was. But they watched the people dance there, and as time went on I began to see some people get a little more perturbed than usual. And when the excerpt ended, Jamecyn was the first one to act.

"_What was up with the _clothes_?_" she asked, pointing to the screen. _"Seriously, what is this, the dress exposition?"_

At this, I noticeably paled, but they were not done yet. "_Those dresses are funny,_" added Matthew. "_They float in the air!_"

"_Or are those strings?_" asked Mark. "_Either way, they look totally ridiculous!_"

"_I dunno..._" said David as he brought his claws together. "_Those things looked like the were made to be danced in..._"

"_Like that?_" asked Jamecyn, her expression becoming seemingly more amused by the second. "_Don't be ridiculous!_"

"_I'm not,_" replied her partner somewhat sheepishly. "_It's just..._"

"_I'm with David on this one,_" added Harold. "_I don't think some of those dance moves can be really pulled off well in anything other than that..._"

"_I agree with Harold_," said Edward with a shrug. "_There must be some reason why they are wearing those dresses..._"

I was getting so nervous at this point that I was beginning to feel a little nauseous. I coughed lightly, and they all turned to see me there, looking a little flustered at this. This promptly shut Mark up, but of course Jamecyn seemed to love it.

"Uh... they're called tutus," I replied. "And they--"

At this, Jamecyn let out a rather loud snort before letting out a sound that I could only assume was the poleepkwan equivalent of laughter. I suddenly lost all color on my face as I heard this, and then the rest of the group looked at each other with incredulous looks on their faces. And finally, Harold shook his head. Rearing his hand back and bringing it into what I was sure was a fist, he went and punched Jamecyn.

The action caught me off guard so much that I actually jumped as Jamecyn's head reared back, all eyes on Harold as the injured poleepkwa rubbed her very light face wound. Harold's eyes were glaring at her, and I suddenly found myself breathing a little easier.

"_Bitch, let him finish,_" said the brownish poleepkwa with a huff.

I blinked at this. I was unaccustomed to Harold doing that, so I sat there in silence. I realized that perhaps Harold was the disciplinarian of the tent, and so took it upon myself never to ask about that. Instead, I cleared my throat.

"Right..." I said, trying my best to pretend that Harold had never struck Jamecyn. "Uh... Thank you Harold... Anyway, they're meant to do exactly what... Harold said. Make it easier to dance, I mean."

"_Well, I mean, they don't have to be so ridiculous,_" pointed out Mark. "_I mean, look at those things! There are shiny rocks all over those things! Why?_"

I shrug at this. "Because it's a state ballet company and they can afford to," I said. "I guess. Most productions don't actually look that... ridiculous, though we would probably say lavish..."

"_Oh, so they spend it because they have more than everybody else?_" asked Mark, his ridges furrowing into a frown. "_I don't believe that for one second!_"

I shrugged at this. "We are getting off topic, though," I said. "Forgetting about the costumes for a second... what did you think it was trying to say?"

"_Well..._" said Caroline. "_Some girl was being chased by some big guy in a hideous mask. And it looked like she was a bit lost..._"

"That certainly wasn't a bad guess," I said, smiling at this. "In fact, you were pretty close."

"_Was I?_" asked Caroline.

I nodded at this, keeping my smile. "Well, the man in that mask is supposed to be a beast of the forests of our planet," I replied. "And these beasts were known for... well, just being savage."

"_I guess that explains why you don't just get the actual beast,_" commented Harold off-handedly.

"Well, that, and most beasts on this planet can't think like either of us can," I said. "So we can't train them. Therefore, we have to dress up ridiculously."

"_I still think it's too much,_" replied Mark. "_Those costumes are too silly. They should just dance in normal clothes._"

I shrugged at this. "Some people do," I replied. "But that's a different kind of dance that really doesn't seem t serve much function other than to stand out amongst ourselves. But in the most deeply embedded dance of our cultures, we tend to dress up like that."

Jamecyn seemed to snort derisively at this as Matthew looked up. "_So does that mean that all the people that dance all get into that thing sometime?_"

I shook my head. "No," I replied. "Not all of us are made to dance, and even if we are we're not all going to wear that. So..."

"_I see..._" said David. "_I still think it was a... pretty good way of telling the story..._"

"_What little of it there is,_" said Jamecyn. "_I guess there's only so much people moving can tell, right?_"

"I guess so..." I replied, gesturing to the poleepkwa. "It's a bit more complicated than that. But, that's how it functions to some of us."

"_Right,_" said Caroline. "_What about the more ritualistic dances that you were talking about?_"

"Ah, yes," I say, returning to the computer and typing something new into the search bar. "Here we go."

The others look at the computer with curious eyes as I search around for the video of Indian dancing that I had memorized. We sat and talked more about dancing, but each time Jamecyn could not help but snicker at how utterly ridiculous she thought most of the outfits looked. After we had talked about Asian dancing, I decided to just leave it be.

* * *

With the festival nearing, I had begun to wonder what else I would see during that week. We had touched music and dance, but I had also heard there was some odd things done with art.

However, I was confused as to what poleepkwan art was about. I was also baffled by how they would handle art with an inherent lack of supplies. Of course, I could not fathom how they could figure out art in a desolate place such as his where guards could trample over it any minute.

I was not sure what would happen with the whole art thing, but I imagine it had something to do with the rituals themselves. I wondered briefly if they would mean something like body art, but I was not sure where one would get the paint.

The answer, would of course make itself apparent before the next day was out. But I was still wondering that as I left. If Jamecyn had been commenting on how ridiculous the costumes looked...

My curiosity was very much piqued. And I did not have to wait long for some kind of reply.


	24. Of Art

And last time... we talked more about dance costumes than dance itself. What give, Jamecyn?

Anyway, today we go over something very odd... That we shall see in a minute!

* * *

Of Art

The next day, there was all sorts of confusion in the district. It was nothing overly concerning, however, but it still put some of our workers on edge, and for very good reason.

When I stood guard during my day shift, I suddenly noticed that a large number of aliens had drawn very crude designs on themselves with dirt. It was an odd sight to see, and surely one that will not evade my memory. Their different carapace colors contrasted brightly against the dark soil that they had scooped up on themselves. Some had even gotten creative, preferring to create body art on themselves with trash.

I remember the first time I layed my eyes on this that my eyes almost bulged out of my socket. Turning to Abejide and James, who were both already there, I pointed at the district and approached.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" I ask.

"The festival starts soon," replies Abejide. "They paint all their bodies with dirt."

I raise an eyebrow at this, but somehow I feel much stranger after hearing this explanation. "But what is with all of this chaos?" I ask, gesturing at the camp. "It just looks so... frantic, I guess."

"You're hoping they won't stir up disorder?" asked James.

I nod. That was entirely my concern at the time. I did partly expect James to know about it for a different reason, but Abejide was quick to give me an odd look about this.

"I thought you say they only attack first, man," said Abejide.

"Uh... Long story, Abejide," I replied, looking out there and seeing that nobody was doing anything to them as they went about painting each other in mud. "But... don't you think it's a bit dangerous?"

The Nigerian shook his head then, looking out. "You know I used to work with friends in District 9?" he asks.

At this, I visibly stiffened, looking down to Abejide. I remember the shock that came when I heard this. I had heard of the Nigerian gang activities that occurred in District 9 shortly before I came over, and it was partly because of this that I expected an underworld to form in District 10. But never would I have thought that I would be talking with one of the Nigerian gangsters that operated in the district.

"W-what?" I asked. "You worked with Obesandjo?"

"Of course!" replied Abejide. He then gestured out to all of them. "This is how you know they're getting ready for the festival. One day of this, and then there's nothing moving in there. And then festival starts!"

I understood then, looking out to the district. "Oh!" I said. "I see... So they're just doing this to get stuff out of the way... Seems like they want to get all their aggression out..."

The Nigerian gave me an odd look at this. "How would you know?" he asks.

"Well, since they're moving so frantically, I assume that would be it," I replied, pointing out. "Cultures have their own way of venting aggression before something serious."

"I come here to guard things, not to hear things I don't understand." Abejide promptly shut me up with this, his fingers drumming along his sides as he had stored his weapon a long time ago. "But still, they're all violent, and then they're all peaceful. It's something I don't get..."

I was silent then, contemplating the contradiction there. I was always puzzled by the contradiction of the Greek funeral, in which the men would play sports as well as the usual rituals. It was something that always puzzled me; why would anybody celebrate death with loud games and revelry? I never understood it when I first heard about it, but years of experience have told me it's possibly a reflection of something in the life of a soldier, as the games were only for celebrating the death of a great warrior. This, I realized, was probably true for the week of peace. Their ability to judge was in question given their hive mind, but since this holiday was biologically engineered into them somehow they see it fit to take their built-in agression on others so that there is no animosity during the week. I can imagine there would be no way there would be a week of peace otherwise.

It was this understanding that I came to after close to an entire day of contemplation. But the matter still remained of what the purpose of the body art was.

And that was what I would take to Caroline when I entered the tent that night.

* * *

The surprise of course didn't end there. When I went to the tent that night, I literally balked in shock at what I had seen.

The group had taken off a lot of their own clothes, leaving me a little at a loss for words. I gave them all odd looks as I saw that they had taken up the same sort of painted appearance that everybody else had in the district itself. This shocked me very much, so much so that I was standing there without knowing what to say. What I remember most was seeing the contrast of bright carapace against the dirt.

The silence that hung between us was rather palpable, and I did not dare to break it. Finally, Jamecyn rolled her eyes.

"_What?_" she asked.

I blinked once, still confounded.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" I ask suddenly. "What is with all the covering yourselves with dirt? Why--?"

"_What?_" asked Harold. "_We can't find a substitute for body paint?_"

I stopped the question, my thoughts coming to an abrupt halt. I was speechless for a few seconds, entering the tent very slowly. "Wait... so this is body art?"

"_If we had paint, we would be much more presentable,_" replied Edward. "_As it is, however, I'm afraid we have little choice in the matter._"

And then it all became clear to me. Slowly, I sat down, being mindful of the group. "I see..." I say.

"_They even painted me up!_" I jolted slightly to see Matthew waving at me excitedly, his carapace covered with the same kind of dirt that the adults had. His patterns were much simpler, however, and much easier to digest for my eyes.

This helped me regain most of my composure as I shifted where I sat. "Really?" I inquired curiously. "So... I take it everyone participates?"

Caroline nodded at this. "_Yes_," she said, her mouthparts clicking together. "_Why? You don't have something like this?_"

I raise my eyebrows at this, shifting slightly. "Well, actually, there's a culture across the ocean that does this," I replied. "The whole body art thing and dancing around, I mean."

"_I take it they got in like we did too,_" said Jamecyn bitterly.

I blinked at this, staying silent for a few seconds. "Uh... yes," I replied, rubbing my eyebrows slightly. "Same kind of deal. At least you haven't had to march for three successive years yet."

"_Shame_," replied Edward, shifting slightly. I suddenly noticed a certain edginess in his movement, as if disturbing the makeshift paint would be a great blasphemy. "_If they have that, it must have been a wonderful culture._"

I shrugged at this, remembering my studies on Native American mythology at the University of Indiana. "It certainly seems like it," I replied. "The people seemed to be at harmony with everything around them. They evolved on their own... and then some people came in and took over everything. Their mythology is certainly interesting, too. Emphasizes the earth above all else and how everything flows in circles that shouldn't be disturbed for fear of terrible consequences."

"_Looks like they were right,_" replied Jamecyn snarkily. "_Look at us now._"

This gets an amused reaction out of Mark, as his chest seems to heave slighlty, his mandibles clicking together in what I can only assume is a form of laughter. I look over to Mark with a raised eyebrow as David shrugged.

"_I guess I have to agree with that..._" he said. "_The natural order was disturbed from what we hear..._"

I blinked at this, Edward seeming to jolt softly. "The homeworld, I take it?" I asked.

"_Yeah,_" replied David. "_Things were pretty bad there..._"

I shrugged. "I don't think now is the best time to talk about it," I replied with a shrug. "Wait until after the week to tell me."

Edward nodded his support as David shrugged. "_Okay then,_" he said.

"_Poor Dave,_" added Harold. "_His old man was the only one of our old men who lived on both the homeworld and the ship. He knows lots of things..._"

I nodded. "We're getting off topic with the body art, though," I replied. "You probably would have used real paint if you had it, right?"

Caroline gave a rather wistful look. "_Oh, the things the tales describe..._" she said, and I noticed in the clicks a sense of nuance that I had never picked up on before. "_They describe colors that we have never seen... I've never seen it myself, but... the tales make it sound so glourious._"

"As well it should," I reply. "What... what tales of body art do you have?"

Caroline seemed to tilt her head slightly at this. "_You don't have your recording device, though,_" she pointed out, her hand gesturing out.

I looked down at my armor, and slowly took it out. "Well, I lost track of the thing that was originally in this armor," I replied. "So I have to fool them somehow, right? I've kept it with me ever since."

"_Oh._" Caroline seemed a little surprised. But she did not show this surprise for too long, as she then seemed to smile then. "_Very well then. I have one tale that immediately comes to mind right now._"

I turned the device on. To be honest, I was a little surprised myself that I would need it on that night. But it was true about how I would have to keep it in there to fool the guards. I remember now how it would come back to haunt me much later, but then I had no qualms about that.

"Right," I said. "Do tell."

She nods and tells the story.

* * *

**Once long ago, there was only a swirl of colors known as chaos. From the maelstrom, Boreal and Sorgeval were only definitive shapes, born of the same strand of color. The color was black, from which both good and evil sprang. Both Boreal and Sorgeval eventually took their forms within the void, both of them pulling the various colors to them as they were borne of the same power that let the powers go about. And so, once they gained their forms, the swirl of colors lessened slightly. With this, Boreal and Sorgeval set out to tame the colors. And from this act, the universe was born with bright colors, painted black to symbolize the power that gave birth to both the brothers and to all creation.**

**The first of the people were made by this. There were a few that were created from what colors remained of chaos. These were creatures with painted colors all over their carapaces, swirling colors clashing against their harsher colors. The colors were unique to it, though, and the colors brought harmony of many different flavors to the people. Odd patterns used to dot their skin then, and this made both brothers exceedingly proud of their work.**

**The first people were an innocent people. They ambled about, their minds their own for a time. They went about the world, perfect and sinless, and bearing many children of the same mark.**

**Once, however, there came an offspring that had learned the forbidden subject of jealousy from a renegade demon that was reigned in by Sorgeval. The demon directed the offspring's feelings to those of hatred towards another one. The demon was haughty and very ugly; thus, it sought nothing more than to ruin the peace that had been established since the time of its masters.**

**And so, the offspring became jealous of one whose colors were far more radiant than its. They were colors so radiant people from across the sea would swoon at the majestic color it displayed. And what could the poor jealous one do but sit there, watching as the other was admired while its own colors sat there very unnoticed? Thus its jealousy grew.**

**After some time of jealousy, the unfortunate one had enough. In a great fit of rage, it entered a fight with the admired one. Boreal watched in horror as the two battled. The admired one was defeated barely a minute after the start of the fight, and dark blood spilled on the ground for the first time.**

**Boreal and Sorgeval were both furious at this development. The demon was banished to a lesser part of the realm of the dead, in the realm where he keeps all souls that make deals with him. However, Sorgeval needed attention to keep the demon sealed, and so he confined himself to the realm, and thus his dark deals began.**

**As for Boreal, he stripped all of the people of the bright colorful patterns that had once resided so proudly on their bodies. And so, the people would wander around without their colors, a reminder of the price they had paid with the original sin.**

* * *

"_And this is why we paint ourselves on days like this,_" finishes Caroline. "_In rememberance of the innocent ones._"

I nodded at this, stopping the recording. "I see," I said. "You know... it makes me wonder about the colors they might have had..."

"_Yeah, some of us have heard that story plenty of times,_" replied Mark. "_I always wonder what we would look like now if we still had those colors._"

I raised my eyebrow at this, my curiosity piqued. "Really?" I asked.

David nodded. "_We used to speculate what colors would work best with which of our shells,_" said Edward in kind. "_Of course... now we have a new set of colors with us as well._"

"_Oh, dear, you're wondering what we would look good in, I guess?_" asked Harold, rolling his eyes towards the roof of the tent.

"_Possibly,_" replied the more gracious poleepkwa. "_I think you could fit in just about any color yourself._"

I rolled my eyes at this as Harold seemed to pout. "_What do you mean?_" he asked. "_It's because I'm dark, isn't it?_"

Fighting hard to keep a chuckle under control, I pointed to Harold. "Actually, Edward, if you don't mind me, I think he would work fine with... green, perhaps?"

At this, Harold gestured to me. "_Thank you, Curtis,_" he said. "_At least that is a color I can latch on to._"

"_Actually, I think green would work on him, too..._" said David with a nod. "_Yes, that would work._"

"_Then what about me?_" asked Matthew innocently. "_I'd look good in green!_"

We blinked uncertainly at this as we saw the innocent poleepkwa look at us with bright eyes. I shifted where I sat before I spoke. "I think so," I said. "Actually, you'd probably look really... er... cute in green..."

I heard some rather violent stirring behind me. When I turned behind me to look, I saw that Jamecyn had started a little bit. "_Did the world just end?_" she asked. "_Or did a human literally just say one of us would look 'cute'?_"

"_No, I heard it myself_," replied Caroline with a shrug. "_I don't think you were dreaming that one, Jamecyn_."

I turned to face Jamecyn, and then I noticed that her eyes went between Caroline and me and Caroline rather quickly. I could tell just by the way her eyes shifted that he was just the slightest bit flabberghasted at what I had said. I imagine it was in the best sense possible, though, and so I simply smiled at her.

"_And what about us?_" asked David. "_What would Jamecyn and I look good in?_"

Mark was quick to put in his two cents. "_I say brown,_" he said instantly. "_If green and black can go well, then green and brown can probably work just as well._"

I nodded in agreement to this. "Yes, brown would work," I said. "Brown would definitely work on that shade of green."

"_Brown?_" asked Jamecyn, her eyes flaring up in annoyance. "That _infernal color? No! I would not look good in--!_"

"Would you rather I said pink?" I joked, throwing a wink.

This shocked Jamecyn into silence, and by the fact that she blinked and backed up slightly I knew I had won that argument. She seemed flabberghasted at first, and when she was silent for a good five seconds everybody else in the tent began to chortle a little at this. When this happened, Jamecyn... blushed, for lack of a better word. I am still as confounded by the blush today as I was back then, as I had never seen a poleepkwa do it. But when the dark green carapace seemed to get a little blackish, I took up almost the exact same expression she did. Minus the blushing, of course.

"_Uh... why would you even suggest that?_" she asked. At this, I had to supress a chuckle, so much so that I didn't answer. "_You know what? On second thought, I don't think I want to know..._"

"_The tough Jamecyn in pink?_" asked Harold behind me. "_Now that's something I could get used to..._"

The blackish tint to Jamecyn's carapace only intensified. "_H-harold!_" she reiterated with frantic clicks.

At her flustered response, I couldn't hold it back anymore. The entire tent began to laugh, and my shoulders visibly shuddered in amusement. She glanced all around the tent wildly, her expression telling us all we needed to know. And somehow, it only made us laugh harder at her predicament. This laughing went on for a good minute as a frown quickly took hold on her face.

When it was beginning to die down, Jamecyn had pointed at me. "_Okay then,_" she said. "_What would _Caroline_ look good in?_"

I blinked at this and looked to the blue poleepkwa. I remember thinking to myself of the dark ocean blue of her carapace. And somehow, I found myself pondering more on her blue than the carapace of anybody else in the tent. I looked at it, trying to think of a good color that would go on her carapace.

I took too long, I think. "Uh..." I replied. "I would rather go with... grey. Yes, grey..."

Jamecyn seemed to smirk at me then, and then I felt Edward give me some kind of stare that I could not read. I looked back at Jamecyn and then back to Edward before shrugging.

"What?" I asked.

"_I swear you said that with something... else in mind..._" taunted Jamecyn.

At this, I felt my cheeks get hot. It was Jamecyn's turn to laugh then, as suddenly all eyes were on me. I could hear Harold start to chortle slightly as Caroline blinked. And all of a sudden, I felt Edward's look begin to get more... defensive would be the right term.

"W-what?" I asked, feeling utterly flabberghasted then. "What are you implying?"

"_Oh, don't try to hide it!_" taunted the greenish poleepkwa. "_You know what I'm talking about!_"

I felt my cheeks get redder by the second. Odd description, but it is the only way I can describe the burning in my cheeks as I sat in the tent that night.

"I don't!" I reply. "Stop taunting me!"

"_Oh, hush loverboy,_" she said.

Somehow, her up-front nature only served to shock me more. "J-Jamecyn!" I almost shouted this, but through some streak of luck I did not. And somehow I only got more flustered by this.

"L-loverboy?" I asked. "What the bloody hell do you mean, loverboy?"

"_I think you know!_" said Jamecyn in a kind of sing-song voice.

"_Jamecyn, please._" David was quick to act, placing a talon on Jamecyn's arm. "_Don't. You know how Edward gets around people when you taunt them with that._"

"B-besides, don't you think it's a bit soon for that?" I asked. "I mean... Well... you know... We... Uh... Well..."

"_You're cute when you're flustered._"

Caroline interrupted my train of thought with this sentence. All eyes went straight to the storyteller as we all beheld her with incredulous looks. My jaw dropped visibly as the flush on my cheeks only intensified. I remember being incomparably shocked. To hear a comment like that from Jamecyn was one thing, but from Caroline... I was so shocked I dared not say a word. Even the normally placid Edward had a look of disbelief on his face.

We were silent for about a full minute. I took that minute to think of everything that the statement could mean. Finally, I shook it off, shaking my head violently.

"Uh... no," I replied. "No. Just, no. I don't feel anything like that."

"_If you say so,_" said Jamecyn. "_Loverboy._"

This time, I shot her a look that I hoped would tell her to drop it. She seemed to take the message, holding her talons up and moving back a little bit. With this I turned back to Caroline and nodded.

"So when does the festival start?" I asked.

"_In two days,_" she said. "_You will be there, yes?_"

"I plan to be, anyhow," I replied as I began to gather myself. "I'll see you all there I guess?"

"_Of course_," said Edward, who had once again retained his impassive exterior. "_We shall see you then._"

"All right," I said, moving towards the entrance of the tent. "Good night, everyone."

The others clicked and chirped their replies. I nodded, and then left the tent, going back out of the district with this conversation fresh in my mind.

I must admit now that Jamecyn was far more perceptive than I gave her credit for back then. I had begun noticing how I would look at Caroline... her carapace, her stature... but most of all I remember being drawn to her kind eyes more than anything else about her. They always shined brightly whenever I was around, even when she was saddened. And they portrayed so much. I... I confess that I had begun feeling something else for her earlier.

And it would eventually be a source of some tension in the district, as I would find out when I finally realized that I was indeed lingering on her longer than anybody else.


	25. The Festival

All right, guys, I think I've held off on this for long enough. I think it's time I bring you the festival!

So without further ado, here we go!

* * *

The Festival

And faster than I could fathom, my first week of peace began.

When I went to the district that morning, it was eerily quiet. I had walked over to my post for the day, but nobody dared say anything. The silence was nearly impenetrable as I stood there. Much to what I was expecting, there was nothing that occurred the first day of the festival. It was very creepy.

I even managed to go on a walk through the district in broad daylight without needing an excuse. I was safe, so the guards would not need me. And I was struck by how empty the areas outside of the tents were. Not a soul ventured around; it was almost as if I had stepped into a ghost town. It was as if I had entered a completely different place, one that was devoid of a population.

This was a little disturbing for me as I walked around the district. Literally the only sound was the soft patter of my feet against the earth. It was a silence quite unlike anything I had ever experienced.

After trekking around the district, I returned. I dared not ask; somehow, the silence worked its way into my soul, and I felt that I would disrupt something unspeakably holy if I dared open my mouth. The day passed on in complete silence, without a single word uttered by me.

I was not the only one who did not speak. Every guard in the district was also quiet, even in the tent. The usual merriment of the mess tent was unusually silent, the clinking of ladles against the soup pot being the only noise that was ever heard. Everything was done in some kind of silence that was both unsettling and somehow sacred at the same time. None of us spoke, and there was no chatter.

The silence even pervaded into the night, with cricket chirps being the only thing that were heard as the night set upon us. I dared not go to the tent that night, not only because I knew I would not be welcome but also because I feared disturbing the reverence. It was eerily silent as I looked on with Marius, and he gestured out to it once during the night. I nodded, and then we both left our station early.

Miraculously, nobody yelled at us that night, or any time after that. We simply went to bed early, which was a very real treat for us given how late our stretch of guard duty often went.

* * *

The next day, the silence was finally broken by the sounds of footsteps everywhere.

When I went to my post that day, the poleepkwans were now all out of their tents. They did not say anything, but now they were all marching along the district. When I arrived for my day shift, I saw James and Abejide standing by the district. Abejide looked a little surprised (no doubt he had seen it before), but James was shocked beyond all belief. I myself was slackjawed when I saw the march.

For every single poleepkwa in District 10 spent the whole day marching around the district in the most perfect line I have ever seen to this day. It wound around the district in incredibly intricate ways that I had never seen in a line. It went through tents and open spaces and past some of the garbage bins that were there. But the line was still perfect. Everywhere I looked the line was perfect as could possibly be. Adults and children alike were marching in a very mechanical fashion, going forward in almost perfect synchronicity. The patter of their feet on the soft ground of the district was amplified many thousands of times over by the millions of feet that were setting down on it, and what occurred was a march that my heart quickly began beating to.

It was perhaps the oddest sight I've ever seen.

It made me far more uneasy when I caught sight of Caroline and the rest of her tentmates in the line, however. When I saw them, I just stood there transfixed; they were marching as mechanically as all of the rest. It was rather odd for me, seeing them march around the district so mechanically when I knew they were capable of their own individual thought. I guess that thought was the one that really scared me the most about the whole ordeal, seeing them march in such a precise, calculated way when I knew they were much more than that.

The uneasiness permeated my being, such that I left the day duty early and never showed up for my night shift. As before, nobody yelled at me. I remember that at least three quarters of the guards had that exact same mindset.

I ran into Hendrik as I walked around the guard's area of the district, and I actually asked him about the remainder of the week of peace. I dared not ask Caroline or the others because I did not want to intrude on something sacred, so that left me to ask Hendrik.

"Well, the way these things usually work is that they do that marching thing after a day of silence," I remember him saying. "I know. It was unsettling for me the first time I saw it too. I remember hearing from the senior guards that served when District 9 was first founded that they were confused by it too. They didn't know what the hell they were supposed to think when they saw complete silence and then marching around. Fokin' things scared all of them, they did."

I blinked at this. "I see..." I said. "Do you know what comes after this?"

"Well, after this it's not as creepy," he said. "If you've managed to get this far, you'll be fine. After this, it's the usual out of what you would expect out of a holiday. Which means... well, what I think is song and dance... and other things."

"I see," I said. "Thanks, Hendrik."

I dropped the conversation there. I figured I would be able to get the remaining answers I needed from Caroline since she would be free of her oath of silence to me. I for one was very baffled by everything about the whole group.

* * *

The next day did indeed start the song and dance cycle Hendrik had mentioned. Of course, there was nothing really done during the day, and so I took it to collect my bearings and try to make sense of the past few days. Marius was right behind me as we did this, and the two of us really did attempt to make sense of it as the poleepkwans darted about as they would any other day.

And so, when night fell, the two of us entered the district. It was the first time Marius had ever been inside the district at night to see what I could see. And so, I led, and he followed very slowly as I searched out for Caroline and the others. I dared not enter their tent as I nomally would, knowing that it would be entirely useless since they were likely out in the district.

In the distance, I thought I saw a fire, however, and so I used that as a reference point. Marius and I navigated around the tents as best we could, being silent as overhead I heard strange chortles. This was rather new to me, and so I approached the fire.

And then I felt something tug on my arm. Turning, I suddenly noticed Mark standing there, holding my arm. Marius jumped slightly at this, and then we both looked at the brownish poleepkwa.

"Mark!" I whispered. "Where are the others?"

"_Elsewhere,_" he replied. "_Don't head to the fire._"

"Why not?" I asked, gesturing to it.

"_The sacred dance is not to be disturbed,_" he said simply. "_You and your friend will have to stay clear of that fire until tomorrow._"

Marius blinked at that, and then he looked to me. "Who's this?" he asked.

I looked between Mark and Marius briefly before glancing between them. "Well... I'll get introductions out of the way once I can see Caroline and everybody else," I said. "Where are they?"

"_In the medical tent,_" said the poleepkwa. "_Jonathan's with us, just so you know. And it's mostly empty by now, so we won't be overheard too much. This is Marius, I take it?_"

I nodded to his question. "Yes, it is," I say. "Lead the way, Mark."

And with this, the darker poleepkwa led us through the tents to the medical tent. It was eerie walking through them. Usually they were rather empty at night anyway, but I could hear signs of life within each tent. It was eerily silent, much like the first day except for the fact that there were others. Marius seemed on edge because of it too, and I could feel it as we looked to each other briefly while following Mark.

Eventually, we arrived at the overly large tent, and we entered quickly, with Marius hesitating just the slightest bit. When we entered, I saw Caroline and her friends sitting in the tent, the area well-lit in the space where a cot used to be. Now I only see a few patients off to the side, and they don't look seriously injured. As we enter, I feel the gaze of my Afrikaaner friend wander around the tent.

"My God... what is this place?" he asks.

"A medical tent," I replied, glancing back at him. When he gave me a perplexed look, I shook my head. "Believe me, you do not want to know."

At this, he nodded as the others in the group noticed us. Matthew was sitting in Harold's lap, and he regarded me with incredibly bright eyes. Caroline and Edward were sitting together, with Jonathan keeping the fire going. Jamecyn and David seemed to be bickering over in one side of the tent over something, and seeing this I smirked slightly, even if it sounded more like banter than actual arguing.

"_Story man!_" exclaimed Matthew excitedly. "_And the nice man that stood there!_"

Marius gave me a look upon hearing this. He looked back at the child and smiled. "I guess..." he said. "Er... Matthew, was it?"

The child nodded, and then my Afrikaaner friend smiled a little more. "Good to see you're doing well," he said.

"_So this is the famous Marius,_" commented Harold. "_Curtis told us about you before the week came._"

The Afrikaaner nodded as Edward and Caroline both regarded him with kind eyes. "_I will admit, I was expecting a more... hostile reaction,_" said Edward as he looked on.

"Hardly," said Marius. "I'm certainly one to go on about racism, actually. Especially with certain... ah... gender issues..."

"_Gender issues?_" asked Jonathan.

"It's complicated," I said. "It has something to do with the fact that we have two defineable genders."

"_Defineable genders..._" said Caroline. "_I can imagine people in the homeworld laughing at that notion. And yet here we are._"

With this, I shrugged, knowing that she was probably right. "Well, I can't say I know how well that would turn out," I replied. "But anyway, this is Marius. Marius, this is Caroline, Edward, Harold, and Jonathan. You already know Matthew. Those two having... er... playful banter in the back are David and Jamecyn."

"_Playful,_" replied Edward, glancing back at them.

"_Some of it is a little lewd..._" added Harold, a mischievous glint in his eye.

At this, I jolted slightly, looking at the black-ish poleepkwa as Marius rose his eyebrows. "Oh, my..." I say.

"So, I guess we're here..." said Marius, looking around nervously. "I would ask why the silence and the marching..."

Caroline nodded, her blue exoskeleton seeming to glint in the light."_I don't know that all too well, but our folklore tells us that in each holiday we're to observe silence and then to march in unison,_" she said. "_Both are signs of unity. If the silence is broken, the remaining week is forfeit._"

At this, Marius and I blinked and looked to each other. "It's a good thing nobody back at the MNU camp spoke then," said the Afrikaaner.

"I guess so," I replied. "And without unity, you can't have peace."

"_It is a good thing we have hive minds, as you would put it,_" added Edward. "_Otherwise, we would have a hard time with this week..._"

"I can imagine," I said, glancing around as Marius and I sat down in the spot where David and Jamecyn would sit. "So what happens now?"

"_Tonight is the sacred dance,_" replied Edward. "_Only a chosen few are allowed to do it, and most of them are elites. Lesser elites here, but still..._"

I nodded. Marius gave me an odd glance as he looked to Edward and then to me. "Elite?" he asked.

"Their hive mind is... structured..." I replied with a gesture of my hand. "It is partly complicated. And what about afterwards?"

"_Tomorrow is the general dance._" Caroline shifted slightly as she spoke. "_Everyone is supposed to do it. And then it is followed by two nights of singing, in sort of the same fashion._"

"And then it ends..." I said.

"_With another day of silence, too..._" replied Harold. "_Only, nobody really seems to mind if it's broken._"

The Afrikaaner nodded at this, crossing his arms. "Interesting," he commented. "At least the second time it won't be as uncomfortable as it was the first time."

My face contorted into an expression of amusement before I nodded. "I must agree with that," I said. "That silence was pretty uncomfortable. I don't really know how you manage to stay to it for so long..."

"_We have it built into our biological clock, remember?_" asked Edward. "_It's easier for us to control it than it would be for you._"

I nodded at this, remembering that detail a little late in the conversation. "True, true," I said.

Marius gave me and then Edward a rather odd look. "Wait..." he said. "So you mean this happens no matter what?"

"_Yes,_" replied Harold.

"_It's so cool when it happens!_" chirped Matthew merrily, and its then that I notice a certain giddiness in his limbs. "_We all do things at exactly the same time!_"

"Almost robotically..." muttered Marius. "Well... it's certainly interesting... if a bit disturbing..."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Disturbing?" I asked. "Why disturbing?"

"Well, Curtis, look at it this way," replied the Afrikaaner. "You ever seen old movies of Nazi Germany? And how precise everyone is?"

My eyes widened, and then I nodded in agreement. "I see then," I replied, blinking. "In that case..."

"_Disturbance is in the eye of the beholder,_" said Caroline. "_What you see as disturbing isn't always disturbing to us._"

Marius nodded uncertainly at this. "Well, if you say so," he said. "Still... I wonder what that is going to be like once we can see the public dance tomorrow..."

"_Oh, its gonna be so much fun!_" exclaimed Matthew. "_We're all going to be moving around at the same time doing the same things!_"

Marius leaned forward at this, the child's mirth making him seem happier. "Is that so?" he asks. "You and the big guys, huh?"

"_Yes!_" said the child excitedly. "_And it'll be just like them!_"

The two of them had a rather extensive back and forth that was too cute for any kind of description I could give it now. All I remember from the tail end of that conversation was Mark tapping me on the shoulder and telling me that Marius was great with the child. I came to the same conclusion.

And when we left the tent, we were in a better mood than we were when we entered.

* * *

The next night, Marius and I made our way into the heart of the district rather quickly. Once we were inside, we were met by David, who gestured us along to an area where several poleepkwans were beginning to move. As we made our way in, we saw by the light of the fire one of the most compelling sights I have ever seen.

We saw a bunch of aliens standing around, but though nothing of it. As we ventured deeper into the district, however, I began to notice that they had all lined up in a strange spiral, congregating by a fire in the center that I could not see from where I was. The center headed from there, and I saw David lead us to where Caroline was standing. The greenish poleepkwa quickly ran away, leaving Marius and I standing there as we look at Caroline.

"What's going on?" I asked, gesturing to the spiral.

"_It is the chlockta-grula,_" she replied, looking around. "_It was a dance we've always been doing. This is the dance we always do at this point of the festival. It is a dance where we must follow each other's movements!_"

Marius looked around at the other poleepkwans in the line. I saw his eyes widen as he turned to the sea blue poleepkwa again. "_Every_ last one of you?" he asked.

"_Every last one of us,_" she replied. "_I need to keep quiet. We're starting soon._"

We both nodded, stepping back a bit to give the poleepkwa the room she needed. "Very well," I said then, giving her a gesture with my hand.

We stepped back as they all arranged themselves as they saw fit. I find it difficult to forget the way they all shifted perfectly into place. From where I stood, it looked like a perfect spiral. Nobody was out of line by a single centimeter, and it was very shocking

This sight was nothing compared to what occurred after.

For then began perhaps the most intricate dance I have ever seen in my life. I would be more likely to call it the most complex game of Simon Says I have ever beheld in my life, but I of course refrain from referring to it as such because the significance is far more than that of a simple children's game. I began to see movement within the circle, and it radiated out, everybody beginning to move. Marius and I stood there confused until the movement reached Caroline.

And then, it became obvious to the both of us what was happening. one poleepkwa at the front of the pack was dancing and _every single poleepkwa behind it_ was copying its actions exactly. It moved almost like a musical canon; the poleepkwa in front would do an action that would be immediately followed by the one behind it. It became scarily complex as Marius and I looked around the place. Eventually, every poleepkwa in District 10 was moving their bodies about wildly, dancing as if they were on a bed of coals. Their movements were wild and calm by turns, but no matter what every single poleepkwa followed in line.

It was one of the most mechanical displays I have ever seen in my life. And yet, in a very strange sort of way, it was also one of the most enchanting things I have ever seen in my life. For as I stood in the middle of the dance circle, I found myself rooted to the earth I stood in as I watched them mimic each other's movements down to the last flick of mouthparts. It was mesmerising, to say the least.

And to see the poleepkwans move in such a way as they did that warm December night in South Africa... It astounds me now as much as it did then. I was expecting poleepkwan dance to be completely different. But really, it is a form of expression of the body. But whereas we use our arms and legs mostly, the poleepkwans used their entire bodies. Eyes flicked about. Eyelids were involved. Antennae seemed to tilt this way and that. And even fingers were involved.

And to think that they were mimicking every movement there was by the ones in front of them. I was shocked and surprised by how perfect the coordination was. I did not see a single misstep that night as they danced. It is something that amazes me to this day, both on recollection and seeing it every year when I go to their homeworld.

It is a sight I will not easily forget. And it was something that Marius and I both stood to behold until the sun rose and they all scattered away, leaving us to get back into the guards' area. As we went on our way, we had a very intense conversation about the dance. Both of us were enthralled by it, and it was a subject that kept us awake through pretty much the entire rest of the morning.

* * *

We were up so late that day that we ended up spending the rest of the day sleeping in our tents. This fortunately did not get us in trouble with anybody, as some other guards had done the same, watching the circle from just outside of the district. People were talking about it essentially the entire day. I cannot blame them for reasons I have listed above.

The next night, Marius and I refrained from entering the district. We all knew what Caroline had told us about and decided it would be better to stay out of the district that night.

I remember we had a discussion of what we think poleepkwan music might sound like. As we did this, I thought I heard what sounded like a cricket chorus off in the distance. I heard this and sat there, listening to the sounds as Marius did the same thing. It was not until a few minutes later that I realized that the sounds were coming from within the district. Upon realizing this, we both listened intently, and then our speculation was answered.

The sound of the cricket-like chorus had little meaning to us that night, being so far away as we were. We decided we would be going to the district the next night, and so we called it a night rather early and slept.

But I laid awake for at least an hour, trying to make sense of how the music would work. I imagined it would be almost exactly like the dance from the night before. I was not sure, but I knew I had to expect something very different from what I was used to. And so, I went to sleep that night, wondering what a chorus of a number larger than any human group that had been organized would sound like within the district.

* * *

It was such that we entered the district the next night. We saw poleepkwans hauling all manner of improvised instruments and putting them in places. They had gotten quite good at improvising amidst twenty years of living in trash, and so they had made all sorts of custom drums and instruments of varying sizes. This jumped out at both Marius and I, as Caroline had never mentioned anything about instruments in what she had told me of music. It seemed very basic, almost something that could have originated from a native African tribe.

It was certainly very interesting to see how they reflected that with materials consisting of improvised rope and drum-heads.

As Marius and I ventured along the district, we eventually came upon Caroline and Edward both preparing some kind of odd drum that seemed like a cross between a timpani and a taiko drum. We approached then, and looked over at them.

"So... today is the day, huh?" I asked, looking around the district to see fires in many spaces that were not occupied by tents.

Caroline nodded at this, Edward continuing to prepare the drum. "_The chant of unity is very important,_" she says.

Marius looked around the district, staying close to me and Caroline as we both beheld the hustle and bustle around them. Edward continued preparing the drum for use in the chant, and then I turned to the unoccupied poleepkwa.

"Caroline..." I say, gesturing to everyone. "This is what it is like? The same thing every year?"

The poleepkwa nodded. "_Why?_" she asked me then.

"I..." I was initially at a loss for words. I had no words to describe how amazed I was at everything that was happening around me. How I wanted to see it all again as many times as I could just to experience the rush I felt at being amazed by the perfect synchronization. So too, did I want to tell her about the silence that affected the very center of my being. And then the ominous feeling given by the perfectly synchronized march after that.

I wanted to tell her all this... And yet I had no words for it.

Finally, I bit my bottom lip as I nodded to her. "I could get used to seeing this every year," I said then. "This... This is strangely affecting. And I could... I could do it all over again for all I care..."

Caroline's eyes seemed to glisten just the slightest bit brighter as she heard this. Looking over. "_Every year?_" she asked.

I nodded at this. "There's just so much to see here," I said. "Like I can never experience it the same way twice... I really can't put a word to it..."

"_There need be no words for some emotions,_" replied the blue poleepkwa as she came closer. "_All the same... I am glad you have enjoyed yourself here._"

A smile came to my face as I heard her say this. "You know, Caroline..." I said. "You and the rest of your tentmates are really something. I... You're more human than a lot of other people I've met from my own species..."

Caroline rose her eye ridges at this as her antennae moved about slightly. "_You think so?_" she asked.

"I _know_ so," I replied. "I... It's tough to explain. But you and your friends have come to mean more to me than the stories you've told. I... don't know how else to put it..."

Her mouthparts seemed to move into the poleepkwan equivalent of a smile as she regarded me with her kind eyes. "_Curtis..._" she began. I thought I saw the discoloration again, but before either of us could ask, Edward turned to us. He regarded us for a moment before turning to me.

"_The chant is about to start,_" he said. "_You can stand by us if you like._"

Marius had found Matthew while we were talking, and it wasnt until he walked over with the young poleepkwa chortling merrily over his shoulders that I noticed. I looked over as he set the boy down next to Mark, who I only then noticed was close by. I nodded to Edward.

"That would be appreciated," I replied. "Thank you."

The dominant poleepkwa gave me a polite bow. I then stood away from the drum as everyone's attention turned towards the center. The sounds of drums being sewn up and of poleepkwans talking and moving about ceased rather quickly. A brief silence took hold, but this one seemed more in anticipation than anything else.

And then, in the silence, a single sound of clicking was heard from somewhere far off. Marius and I turned our heads as every other poleepkwa in the district did the same as I did. Several clicks rang in the air before then I heard a drum beat very far off in the distance. Almost immediately I began counting exact rhythmic values as the chirp and the drum beat began to sound off.

I nearly jumped when Caroline began to trill very close to where I was, the sound ringing out in the crisp night air. I looked to her, and then I began to see that there was something precise about everything that was going on.

And soon, sounds began to overcome the district as Marius and I sat. It started off rather simple, eventually coming off so that everybody in the district was making some kind of sound. There was sound, and then it began to rise up above the ground.

And then, eventually, there was a point where I began to lose all sense of rhythm. And that was when I realized what the chant built up to.

The chant worked its way so that there were no breaks in the sound. Sounds were assaulting us; the drum beat from one end of the district, Caroline trilling by my side, the sound of a high-pitched click off in the distance... I can scarcely describe what I heard there. It was a sensation that had to be experienced in the center of the crowd as sound assaulted your person from every conceivable direction.

And as I sat there, I began to think about how much things had changed since I had first come to District 10. Barely half a year had gone by, and yet I was closer to Caroline and the poleepkwans in the tent than I had ever been to anybody else over a lifetime of friendships. I had a feeling that they would change my life greatly. They already kind of were, in a strange sort of way. I had become so accustomed to seeing them bicker... Something overcame me.

I think it might have been seing sentience in a species not like humans. Despite how very different they were, they were fundamentally the same. My heart wrenched at the fact that they were being separated from us for the sole reason that they were non-human, to use MNU's term very bluntly. Somewhere within the recesses I had found as much humanity as any regular human, sometimes even more than before.

An old proverb always comes to mind when I remember my night of reflection as I sat in the district hearing the chant. "Where there is light, there is shadow." The both of us were capable of great humanity, and yet of unspeakable cruelty. And something about that made them more human in my eyes than my own fellow humans did.

I reflected upon the situation. Around me, the sounds of poleepkwan chanting rose and hung in the air with intensity.

And I sat back and let myself be taken by the music.


	26. Interludium III

Okay, so last time was the festival. And a lot of things happened in it, beginning with silence and ending with the sound of music. With songs they have sung for a thousand years.

Okay, lame Rodgers and Hammerstein reference out of the way, last chapter was honestly a little bit tough to write. I had been having a block on what to put in the festival for some reason, so I just went with what worked. And somehow, it all came together beautifully.

So yeah. Making stuff up is fun.

Fortunately, when we hit the next story arc things will go according to plan. So stick around!

* * *

Interludium III

After the great chorus, there was another day of silence. This one was more reflective, however, and I felt much more at ease.

It was the day after that I took a route back to Johannesburg. My plans for that Christmas were pretty simple: I would spend Sunday and Monday with Tania, and then fly to Glasgow on Tuesday and spend the rest of the week in Glasgow before spending a few days with Tania and returning. Piet used some spare vacation days I had left over to make sure of it, even despite my protests.

It was the first that I had noticed of Piet's working things around to try and play matchmaker since I had arrived at Johannesburg. I had already begun to suspect it after Tania and I made our peace, but it wasn't until he arranged this that I realized he had indeed taken an active hand in it. I figured everyone else also had a hand in it. But this incident cemented in my mind that Piet was attempting to replace Wikus with me.

Looking back, I don't think it would have worked out. Sure, our opinion had changed, but there was something interesting about our vow of celibacy. It slowly began to ingraine itself into my memory subliminally, such that we never made any moves towards each other.

I don't remember every topic of conversation we had in the two days before I went home to Glasgow, but I remember that there was a distance between us that neither one of us dared to cross. That said, however, we still did get along, and according to Tania I was great with her child. The child was of course undeniably cute. I thought it to be incredibly sad how Renier's father would not be there for his first Christmas, but I had a feeling that soon that problem would disappear.

And so, the first two days of the holiday went by in peace. Tania drove me to the airport, and I remember making a brief conversation about how far we had gotten from when I first came to Johannesburg. We laughed it off, knowing that such a misunderstanding would likely never occur between us. And when I entered the airport I thought about how good it would be to see my brother and my parents again. And also, to meet my brother's girlfriend, as we had never met her and he was planning on introducing us for Christmas.

I boarded the plain with a soft smile on my face, and the copy of Edith Hamilton's _Mythology _that I brought for in-flight reading.

I packed very light heading home, mostly because I wanted to bring a bunch of volumes of the mythology of cultures not covered by Edith Hamilton for some light reading for my friends in District 10.

* * *

I arrived at Glasgow with a broad smile on my face as Andrew and I literally bumped into each other in the airport.

It was odd how we didn't recognize each other at first, but then we suddenly realized that we were in fact related by blood.

And when we did see each other at the Glasgow airport, Andrew's smile only got broader.

"Curtis!" he said, holding his arms out. "Fancy running into you here!"

I opened out my own arms and we hugged each other. I felt him slap my back a little bit as we hugged. "I didn't think we'd be getting in this airport at around the same time!" I exclaimed.

"Who does?" asked Andrew. It was then that I noticed a rather attractive woman by his side with a fairly angular face and soft, brown hair tied up behind her. I regarded her, my eyes meeting her piercing blue.

"And who's this lovely lady with you?" I asked gesturing to her.

Andrew looked to his side and smiled at her. I assumed right then and there that the woman was his girlfriend. "Oh, glad you asked," said Andrew teasingly as he gestured towards her. "Curtis, this is Delphine Monteaux. Delphine, my brother Curtis."

Delphine held her hand up for mine to take and smiled. "How do you do?" she asked, her voice having a slight accent that could only have belonged to a Frenchman.

"I'm just fine, thank you," I said smiling as I took her hand and gave it a soft kiss.

"Andrew has told me a lot about you," she continues, smiling a rather soft smile. "What's it like down in South Africa?"

I remember rolling my eyes at the fact that the questions were so quick to come as Andrew, Delphine, and I began walking through the airport. "It's a nice place," I replied. "The people are friendly if you can get past the pickpockets and crime rates and lingering racism. But no, they really are a rather friendly bunch."

Delphine and Andrew nodded, the Frenchwoman seeming very interested. "I hear you work with aliens," she says. "That must be so surreal. It must be like walking into a science fiction story…"

Thinking of my alien friends brought a rather soft smile to my face. "Well, the novelty wears off once you've been in District 10 long enough," I say. That is entirely true, but not for the reason she must think I mean. "But that makes it no less intriguing. At least, for me, as I tend to go in a lot more than you would think. Trust me, if my employers found out about half the things I was doing there, I would likely be fired on the spot."

Andrew snorted with Delphine raising an eyebrow. "I hate to say it, but you were never one to adhere to the rules others set," he said. "It seems to have held true even after all these years! What'd you do this time?"

I looked over to the side, crossing my arms as we left the arrivals area. "I made friends with an entire group of aliens," I said almost wistfully. "I can tell you more on the way."

"Ooh, that sounds _very_ interesting," said Delphine, a smile coming to her face.

I nodded. "You have no idea," I replied.

And so, I began telling them about the poleepkwans in the tent that I frequently went to in the middle of the night.

* * *

They found themselves so interested in Caroline and the others that we ended up talking about it through customs and the long ride all the way home. Andrew ended up asking a lot about Caroline and Edward, as they were the two I had the most interaction with besides Jamecyn. Andrew had to stop to get some gasoline briefly, so Delphine turned and we continued the conversation.

"So then I entered their tent that night when we got internet," I told her. "I showed them a clip from Youtube."

"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what did you show them?"

"I showed them a clip of _Clash of the Titans_," I said. "The old movie about Perseus?"

"Ah, yes!" said the Frenchwoman. "I remember that one. What did they say?"

"The biggest thing they asked was about Ray Harryhousen," I replied with a hand gesture. "They had a tough time understanding the idea of specialization. And they all noticed how obvious it was that they were clay."

"You of course pointed out that we didn't have sophisticated computers back then," she said.

"Of course!" I replied with a smile. "I don't think they believed it, though. I mean, they do have weapons that only someone with their DNA can use."

"Really?" asked Delphine. "How did they make those?"

"I don't know," I replied as I crossed my arms. "A part of me doesn't really care, though. I have a different their views on technology are as different as my own."

The Frenchwoman shrugged. "Then why didn't you ask them?" she asked me. "You know them well enough."

"I haven't had the opportunity to start a conversation about it," I replied with a shrug. "Usually the tale we talk about refers to the topic at hand. It makes me wonder about our own views of technology, actually…"

She nodded and pointed a finger at me. "Then you need to ask them," she says commandingly. "I think you should ask them."

"All right," I said with a nod. "I will." I had been wondering about what else to ask Caroline as well, and I was about to get to technology when the week of peace came along. Now that we had nothing else to talk about, however, I was sure I could get to talking about technology very quickly. I wondered what their philosophy on technological advancement was before reminding myself that ultimately it didn't matter; the discourse itself was the biggest joy I got when I found out more about poleepkwan culture.

By this point, Andrew had finished filling the tank of the vehicle we were both in. When he stepped inside, he turned to me as he started the car.

"Starting to feel like Johannesburg, eh?" he asked as he drove around in the extremely cold weather. "It's like you never left."

I snorted as I shook my head. "You're forgetting that it's summer down there!" I replied. "This weather is actually kind of a relief! I don't believe you know how bloody hot it was before I left!"

Andrew nodded as he looked outside. "Oh, yes, I forgot about that," he said. "I'll bet mum has some nice bits of haggis waiting for us. It'll be like we never left."

"Well, mostly," I reply.

And we continued laughing about home the entire way back.

* * *

When we arrived back home, our mother was very quick to answer the door. She had a soft smile on her face, but Andrew and I were both quick to notice that something was off.

We of course gave ourselves some very cordial greetings, but the fact that her expression seemed a little forced put me off a little bit. After we introduced Delphine, our expression hardened, and I stepped forward.

"Mother," I said then. "There's something bothering you. What is it?"

She blinked nervously, and then gestured to where we knew her bedroom was. "It's your father," she says. "His health hasn't been in very good shape lately."

"Oh, no..." said Andrew. "What happened?"

"He suffered a heart attack a couple of days ago," she replied.

At this, the mirthful air was mostly displaced. "He did?" I asked. "How is he?"

"He's fine, according to the doctors," she said. "He should be back before the holiday, thank heaven."

"Oh, well that isn't too bad," said Andrew. "If a bit worrisome, but still..."

The four of us entered the house a little bit deeper. "Yes," she said, her voice wavering a little. "But I still worry about him."

"At least he will be returning here," commented Delphine. "I can't imagine what it would be like if he did not return for Christmas... I was hoping I would get to meet him."

"Don't worry, Delphine, you will," she replied. "We Baxes are a harder bunch to kill than most people like to think! I think you're all a little tired from the trip, yes?"

"Especially me, mother," I replied, shaking my head. "I'm thankful I only lost an hour coming back home..." And it was true, for I was feeling exhausted by the travelling that I had to do.

Our mother nodded warmly at this, gesturing into the sitting room. "Then you should probably take a nap dear," she said. "I'll wake you up when dinner is ready."

I nodded at this. Neither Delphine nor Andrew were doing too badly for themselves, however, so they settled into the kitchen and talked to my mother. I don't remember what their conversation was about as I walked into my own room.

As I did, I couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth come over me. I thought back to Caroline and the people in her tent. I was thankful that at least they were all together. They had already celebrated their holiday, but somehow I felt that the District had done something for them to unify them. The tent was a sort of family unit. Nobody truly agreed on everything, but they still got along well enough. They were all they had in that district, and I imagine it made them closer as a family.

I let out a rather long yawn as I thought about this, and within the minute I had fallen onto the bed. I began to sleep peacefully for about an hour afterwards as my thoughts flittered back to Johannesburg.

* * *

My father returned home just in time for Christmas, exactly as my mother had predicted. Our gathering ws rather small; the Bax family tended to celebrate only amongst themselves. With the exception of Delphine, this was true for this Christmas as well. My father seemed in as good of spirits as he usually was, but something about his movements was a little forced, as if he was getting his energy drained just by moving. But nobody really mentioned it, as if we were all avoiding it.

Instead, he spent most of Christmas fawning over Delphine. Our conversation at the dinnertable was mostly about young love as the chicken went around the table.

"So I hear you play the cello," he said at one point. "Lovely instrument, the cello."

"Indeed it is," replied Delphine. "I think it pairs off nicely with the violin, if I want to be quite honest."

Andrew nods in agreement at this. "We play duets all the time," he comments. "It helps keep us together."

My father nodded at this, smiling. "That's the spirit, Andrew," he commented. "It is nice to see that you are treating her with respect. Playing duets is something that I think will go a long way for you."

My mother had been walking by with more food when she heard this. Setting some food there, she smiled warmly at this. "Just like you teaching me the intricacies of Scottish cooking?" she asked.

He smiled brightly at this, taking her hand softly as she moved closer. "Just like that," he said, smiling.

It was a difficult sight to ignore. It was such a good picture of love that I couldn't help but smile. Delphine and Andrew both smiled as well, and I see Delphine's hand work its way into Andrew's as they both seem to lean against each other. I smiled faintly at this, knowing I was the only one in the room who didn't have anyone to love yet.

And to this end, my father turned to me. "You know, Piet told me about his daughter," he said.

I jerked slightly at this, looking over. My good mood somewhat evaporated as I looked at him. "Did he tell you about involvement between us?" I asked.

He nodded. "He says you and Tania are getting on quite well," my father replied. "But not well enough according to Piet. You don't have feelings for her... do you?"

I raised my eyebrow at the notion. I shook my head, shifting in my seat. "Even if I did, she wouldn't reciprocate," I reply. "There's... something that Piet left out when he got me to stay with his daughter."

"Ah, see?" asked Andrew with a wild arm gesture. "I knew you shouldn't completely trust MNU!"

"Oh, dear..." said my father, shaking his head. "What did they choose not to reveal."

"Tania had a husband," I reply. "Or... has a husband, at any rate. Something really strange happened to his husband, but nobody will tell her what."

At this, everyone at the table stiffened slightly, even Delphine. "Do you think...?" asked the Frenchwoman.

"That he's still alive?" I replied. I nodded grimly after I finished the sentence. "I wouldn't doubt it. My feeling is that Piet wants me to replace her husband's place in her life..."

My father nodded his head slowly, tapping his hand on the table. "I see..." he said graciously. "Well... if that is how it must be, then I have no objections. After all, what if Wikus returns one day to find his wife wed to another man? What would he say then?"

I nodded at this. "That was one of the things I was thinking," I replied. "But also, how would Tania react to that?"

"That would be unspeakably cruel..." said Delphine. "I agree with you on this, Curtis."

I offered her a soft smile as I settled back. "I'm sure you'll be quite happy to know that I have taken a vow of never advancing upon her, then," I replied. "Let Piet believe what he will, but I am not a cruel man. I won't make Tania suffer."

"That's the spirit!" said my father as he raised his glass up. "I like that you think with others in mind instead of yourself! That is how people should behave, considering people other than themselves! And you have made me a very happy man for that."

Delphine giggled a little. "You take pride in how you raise them," she commented.

"I think I've raised a fine pair of young men in my life," replied my father with a beaming smile. "I say; a toast to the two greatest sons a father could possibly ask for!"

Smiling, I grabbed my glass of merlot as Andrew and Delphine lifted theirs. My mother grabbed a glass of water from the table before we all klinked them together. We drank to a good family, and we left the conversation about Tania there as we continued on about other subjects.

* * *

I remember that later that night Andrew and I had gone walking around outside. Delphine was busy getting to know our parents a little better, and so we were left to our own devices as we wandered the area that we used to inhabit. Of course, being Scotland in the middle of winter, it was very cold, and there were not too many forests around. So this meant that we trekked down the road for a few kilometers watching the snow fall.

"You know, Andrew," I said, looking over down the road as we walked. "It never snows in Johannesburg."

"It never does?" he asked.

"That's what I hear, anyway," I replied, biting on my lower lip. "It makes me wonder what they would go through if there were snow there..."

My brother seemed to understand my meaning almost immediately. "Thinking about them again?" he asked, curiosity in his voice.

I chucled darkly upon hearing this. "Not a single day has gone by lately where I haven't," I replied, smiling. "It's just... they've had this effect on me, Andrew. You meet one and get to know one well, and it's almost like I'm talking to a human..."

He nodded at this. "I see..." he said. "I think you've taken to them a lot."

"That I have, Andrew," I reply. "And it pains me to think about how bad it would be if it snowed down there..." I shook my head sadly as I turned to look at him. "They don't have heating down there. All they'd have to protect themselves against this are thin tents. And they have almost no clothes; most of them have to go around naked all day..."

Andrew's eyes seemed to widen the slightest bit at this, and I could not say I blame him; had our roles been reversed I likely would have reacted in the same way. "Nothing at all?" he asked. "Why would anybody do that?"

I shook my head. "It's not often that you can find clothes in a place like District 10," I replied. "MNU doesn't supply clothes either. They also do a great number of things. If I tried to talk about them all... we would be here all night."

Andrew shook his head at this. "Then why don't you quit?" he asked. "I'm sure the humanitarian groups that do things down there would be more than happy to help you."

"I don't think I could," I replied. "The humanitarian groups aren't allowed inside the district. And from what I've heard, they can't dally around the humanitarian groups. This is the only way I can enter the district, and even then I have to be extremely careful to make sure I'm not caught..." I saw my brother nod solemnly at this as we paused along the road. "I wish... I wish life had given better cards than MNU for me to speak with the aliens..."

"Hey," he said then, offering me a soft smile. "Things will look up eventually. Perhaps some day in the future the aliens will be able to return to their homeworld. Maybe they will be able to get some guidance..."

I nodded. "It's a fantastical dream, though," I replied. "One I would never want to wake up from, but a dream nonetheless."

"Dreams can come true," he said in response. "You never know, Curtis."

"I suppose," I said, sighing. "But what does anyone in that district have to tide them over until then?"

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and then I saw Andrew's smile get brighter. "They have people like you," he replied. "Especially your friends. The hope that not all of us are assholes is probably enough for them to endure. I know it would be for me."

I thought about it a little more, realizing that he made a great deal of sense. I realized that they had me to help them, to give them hope...

"I'm just very unsure that one man can do so much for a whole group of people," I replied.

Andrew laughed softly at this. "You worry too much, Curtis," he said. "I've got faith in you, Curtis. You will hopefully be enough for all of them."

I nodded. I must say I was still very unsure that I would be enough to give hope to the poleepkwans of District 10, but I decided to take his word for it. Wordlessly, we returned back to our home, and there was silence between us. I remembered then that Caroline and I had a very similar conversation where I had my doubts about beng able to help. She told me then that we had to hope...

And then as I realized I truly came to admire everyone in that tent. Amidst all the nothingness that was District 10, they were able to take something more constructive out of it than the MNU abuse. I also realized it possibly went both ways. They admired me for risking so much to ensure their own well being, even if I got them to tell me stories as well as that. This discovery was quite... enthralling for me.

It was also enough to make every recollection of them thereafter shine in a more fond light. And for that, I was grateful, as it allowed me to remember other things. The way Jamecyn's antennae twitched before she went on a rant. The way Edward seemed to carry himself like a proper king of England despite never having seen anyting like that. The shine in Matthew's eyes when I told him a story, his tiny hands grasping to what he had to sleep under. And the way Caroline told her own stories, her arms going about in a vigor that I can barely put to words.

It was recollections like this that made me more confident of my stance in District 10. And it made me ever eager to return to them to see them all again.

* * *

I left that weekend with a rather good sense of happiness.

My family gave me quite a cordial goodbye at the airport before I returned to Johannesburg. Andrew and I switched e-mails, as he wanted to come visit me in Johannesburg sometime with Delphine. I welcomed the idea, wondering what Tania would say to that. I figured she would not mind so long as I kept to my strict code of chivalry.

My mother was of course gushing about my departure. She did that every time I left home, of course, but it was still quite a thing to sit through. I only told her that I would be all right, and that she should stop worrying. After all, I reasoned that I would be safe in the district no matter what happened. The truth of the matter is something I'll visit when it is relevant, but I constantly had to tell her her fears were unfounded.

And my father gave me a very humble departure despite being ill. He told me to keep to my promises and to honor Wikus van de Merwe.

I told him I would obey my promise to Tania no matter what the cost was.

I remember leaving them at the curb with a smile and a soft wave. They only waved back in reply, the smiles on their faces absolute.

It was the last memory I would have of them to tide me over in Johannesburg until I would return again under far different circumstances.

I packed a bunch of volumes of mythology for my return trip to Johannesburg. I was sure Caroline would greatly appreciate it if I could smuggle the various volumes of mythology into District 10 without anybody else noticing. I brought along many volumes of mythology I hadn't yet covered, such as Native American and Japanese mythologies. I even brought a few volumes of the great anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, whose dissertations on Brazilian mythology are absolutely fascinating.

I found myself reading _The Raw and the Cooked_ again on the flight back to Johannesburg. I wondered what Caroline would say about the statements Levi-Strauss had about mythology in that particular book. I figured she would find them interesting, and decided that it would be the firt volume of mine that I gave away to her.

And so I rode the plane to Johannesburg mostly in peace and feeling quite good about myself.

* * *

When I arrived in Johannesburg, I was picked up by Tania, who was in much the same mood that I left her with. The car ride home was fairly uneventful, to say the absolute least. And when we arrived at her home, she was quick to leave me a smile.

As I entered her home, I remembered doing a double take as I looked at what lay on the bed. There was an entire bouquet of metallic junk roses sitting on the table. The smell actually wasn't so bad, and looking closer I thought I saw the barest hint of soap suds on some of the flowers. Obviously Tania cared a great deal about how they were arranged on the table as the metallic roses glinted in the light of the room. In the lighting, I was able to make out the maker of each can that went into the meticulously crafted objects.

My first reaction was to give Tania a stunned look.

"You think Wikus had all the time in the world to do this?" I asked her, gesturing to the bouquets.

She nodded. "I found them on my lawn on Christmas day," she replied. "I've kept them in the house ever since..."

I crossed my arms at this, suddenly regretting having left Tania alone. Sure, we had vowed celibacy, but Tania did not even trust her own family. I felt terrible for leaving her alone in there with only the baby to keep her company. I nodded grimly at seeing this.

"You miss him," I said simply.

I watched her give a small gesture of agreement as she sits down at the table. "More than you can imagine," she replies. "Oh, God, do I miss him... And now I'm sure he misses me too... And I don't understand what is keeping us apart... I'm half afraid he's turned into a monster..."

I remember thinking that this would have been a very bad turn of events for Tania. But I remembered then the tale of the beauty and the beast, of which the beast became human thanks to the steadfast love of the beauty. There were so many parallels between Tania and the then-missing Wikus that I began to wonder if I had not stepped into a fairy tale.

And so, I asked the first thing that came to mind.

"If he were a monster..." I began. "Would you still love him?"

She contemplated this for a moment, her fingers clasping together as she bit her bottom lip. She was obviously very perturbed by the events that had occurred, and the fact that she still missed her husband dearly was clearly eating away at her. But she was resilient, if not blindly hopeful. After a brief moment of contemplation, she nodded.

"Yes..." she said. "I know he cares about me; even if he has to hide from the world, I still love him."

I offered her a soft smile in that moment, and when she looked up all seemed to be soothed with her. "Then that's all that really matters, eh?" I asked.

The woman simply gave her agreement, her hand darting out and brushing some hair out of her face. I dared not go in and brush it out for her, given that I was going to stick to my promise as best I could. She looked over to the metallic roses, and smiled on them fondly.

"I still think it's kind of cute in a strange way that he used Coca-Cola cans to make the red ones," she commented.

I blinked at the comment, not sure what to make of it at first. I then looked to the petals to find that the red ones were indeed made of Coca-Cola cans. I took a closer look at the petals and suddenly realized another reason why they looked off; the petals were colored oddly. There were orange roses from orange Fanta cans. There were green roses from Sprite cans. There were black roses from Coke Zero cans.

No matter what I looked at, I always saw some form of soft drink can involved in the creation of every single rose that was there. It was... jarring. But it was also charming in its own strange way. Obviously, Wikus had very few materials to work with, so he worked with what he had.

It is the thought that counts, after all. And Wikus' thoughts were perfectly clear.

I walked over to Tania. "It's charming how the rose petals are not all the right colors, too," I added, pointing at one of the orange ones.

"I know!" she said, pointing at one of them. "And the green ones... It's kind of charming in its own way..."

She looked over to the roses as she wrang her fingers together. "You know..." she continued. "I anticipated that he would arrive here and leave this. So I left him a picture of Renier with a short note..."

I rose my eyebrows, looking over at Tania with a soft smile. "Did you now?" I asked. "What did he say?"

"He didn't say anything," she replied. "But he took the picture and the note with him. I'm sure he has it now..."

"I'm sure he's admiring it as we speak," I said, hoping to cheer her up. "I'm pretty sure knowing that I was a father would be one of the best things that ever happened to me in the state he's in now..."

She nodded at this, looking at the roses. "Knowing that he still cares..." she muttered. "It gives me hope that some day we'll be together again..."

I nodded. I was very tempted to rub her shoulder comfortingly, but I thought better of it and sat down next to her. I offered her a soft smile, which she returned in kind. I shifted in my seat, smiling.

"Merry belated Christmas, Tania," I replied.

"Same to you, Curtis," she said.

And we sat there, admiring the steel roses that showed Wikus' love for Tania was as strong as it had been before he was forced to leave.


	27. The Golden Medallion of Boreal

All right, we're back!

So this time, we wonder something. Technology between the two is very different, so what changes? A lot of things.

Let's get started, shall we?

* * *

The Golden Medallion of Boreal

I spent my few days with Tania before I had to leave for District in relative silence. We rarely talked after the talk about the roses, but when we did our conversation was pretty warm. I mostly spent my days looking after little Renier while she ran around doing errands in Johannesburg. I did not mind, and I actually got to sing Renier a lullaby a couple of times. But every time I did, I remembered thinking about how much Wikus would have enjoyed doing what I did.

But Tania would come home, and then there was the unspoken agreement that whatever happened was all right.

And so the days passed until I had to return to MNU headquarters. I told Tania to hold on to some of the volumes of mythology. I planned to smuggle the volumes in one by one to avoid suspicion, and I started with _The Raw and the Cooked_ to be safe.

I got it through district security just fine, fortunately, and all was fine.

I remember that when I returned, Marius was one of the first to greet me. The greeting was rather warm, and I remember we made some comment about how warm the weather was in Johannesburg before we continued talking about other things. I told him about my intent to bring Caroline the book in rather hushed voices, and he agreed with me while expressing concern about me.

I can't blame him, looking back now. He was only looking out for my safety, and thinking back I realized that he had a good point.

But then, I brushed his concern off. I had managed to pass off cleaning up the district as eing for the employee's benefit, so I figured I could get away with much. I know I could not get away with as much as I wanted, but I realize now that it bordered on pride.

He was humoring me after that, I am sure. But he told me to go ahead.

And so, I prepared for the night at the district, placing my copy of Levi-Strauss' book in my armor just before my night shift.

* * *

When I returned to the tent, I saw everyone in their usual spots, looking in within each other. When they heard the rustle of me pulling the tent flap open, however, they suddenly snapped to attention, all eyes looking at me. There was Caroline and Edward in their usual spots, as well as Matthew sitting in his father's lap. Harold, Jamecyn, and David were all there too, and they looked over to me with surprise in their eyes.

"I'm back," I said, smiling at the group.

They were silent for a few seconds. I figured they were not prepared to see me at all. I distinctly remember David's blinking as they tried to process this.

Finally, Matthew was the first to greet me. "_Story man!_" he shouted out, chirping merrily.

I went into the tent, but then felt myself get pulled in when the young poleepkwa pulled me into an incredibly fast hug. At this, the other poleepkwans in the tent had relaxed a little bit as I stepped in. I let out my own smile too as I returned the hug Matthew gave me so ardently, and then smiled when I felt his arms tighten just the slightest bit. We held it for a few seconds, and just as quickly as he had come forward he had crawled back into his father's lap.

As soon as the little one was situated there, I looked to Caroline.

"How well can you read my language?" I asked.

The storyteller blinked before cocking her head to the side. "_I can understand it well enough..._" she said. "_Why?_"

I smiled then, and reached into my armor. I presented her with my copy of _The Raw and the Cooked_, and held it in front of her for everyone in the tent to see. It was a more beaten-up copy than I would have liked, with a graying cover and a few withering pages. But the entire group recoiled in shock at this. The storyteller especially seemed in great shock about it, her eyes going to me and to the book before she brought her hand out and took it in her claws.

"_What... Is this...?_" she asked.

"It's a volume of mythology from a place called Brazil," I replied. "Well... an analytical volume, anyhow. I thought you might like it."

Caroline looked over to the book, glancing down at it before Edward looked up. I could tell from the sheen in his eye that he was deeply affected in a good way.

"_This is... unusual, Curtis,_" he stated. "_We've never had a human give us a gift quite like this..._"

"Consider this the first time you have ever received a gift like this," I replied.

The others looked around each other, and I could hear Harold and Mark muttering something to each other as David and Jamecyn both looked at each other. I could see Caroline's mouth-parts trying to bring words to her mouth, but she could not come up with anything for a brief period of time. Finally, she looked at me, her antennae lifting up slightly.

"_I... Thank you..._" she said. "_I've never had someone do something like this for me... I'm not sure how to feel..._"

I gave her a reassuring smile as I shifted. "You're welcome," I said. "And your happiness is all I need."

The storyteller nodded at this as the others shifted. I saw David hug his knees over as the others all looked to me.

"_So, what else did you do back in Scotland or wherever you're from?_" asked Harold.

I shrugged, giving him a glance as I shifted where I was sitting. "Well, I got to be with my family again," I replied. "And that was rather good."

"_Oh?_" asked Edward. "_What is your family like?_"

I smiled, looking over in the direction that my heart told me Scotland would be before I relaxed where I sat. I then told them about my family, a warm feeling in my heart as I talked about them. I told them about Andrew and how he was rather fond of very strange music that even I could not get. I told them about the impression of Delphine I had from staying with her for the full Christmas holiday, and how she seemed to complimet Andrew rather nicely. I talked about my parents, as caring as they were.

And as we spoke, I got the impression that they found echoes of their own tent within. David was one of the first to point out similarities, but soon enough the others were joining in. Even though only Mark, Matthew, and Harold were the only ones related by blood, they still felt very strong ties. And hearing this was very heartwarming for me to hear about. I felt so good I honestly forget exactly what they said in the tent that night, but I know it was all pleasantries for the rest of the night.

As we spoke, the topic eventually turned to some of the things that Delphine had said.

"_So she asked if it was like a science fiction novel?_" asked Edward.

"Oh, yes," I replied. "We tend to have this strange fascination with stories about people coming from other worlds, and about technologies beyond our capacity..."

Jamecyn rolled her eyes. "_If she thinks we're just a group of characters in some convoluted science fiction story, she's nuts,_" she replied, crossing her arms with a reassurred tone.

"That's not what she thinks at all," I clarified. "It's just that it would feel surreal for her to be walking amongst us."

The others nodded at this assessment. "_What do you see in science fiction stories?_" asked Matthew innocently.

"Well, you see things like people visiting other worlds," I began. "You see other people visiting us. You see technology doing good things. You see it doing bad things... We just have this fascination with what's to come... And it is quite odd in some cases. It sometimes reflects our own fears..."

"_Just like any story should,_" replied Caroline, finishing my sentence.

Harold glanced to her. "_Well, it can't be all unhappy, right?_" he asked. "_I mean, there are a lot of good things about technology._"

I bit my lower lip as I shrugged. "Some people have a little bit of trepidation about technology," I replied. "Some of us really don't know what will happen when we do things..."

"_Like experiment on us?_" asked Jamecyn bitterly.

I blinked at this, not expecting the reply to have as much acid as it did. "Maybe not that drastic..." I replied. "What I mean is this; some of us worry that our technology might eventually get its own sentience. And if that happens, we are afraid it will eliminate all of us. Somehow..."

At this, all the other poleepkwans in the tent raised their arms. "_Well... I guess that explains why you are so behind in technology..._" commented Mark. "_But... I do not completely understand. Why is there such doubt?_"

I frowned at this. "To tell you the truth, I don't know..." I said. "It's just... we have a natural ability to question everything we do. Absolutely everything. Some less than others... but we're afraid of what we don't know..."

Caroline shifted... "_I guess a tale is in order,_" she said.

It was when she said this that I realized my tape recorder was not on my person. I looked at her and back at my armor as I realized this very simple fact. I blinked briefly before looking back at them, the surprise registering on my face. But then, I realized as well that it was about time that I listened to the tales on my own for once. And so, I looked over to Caroline, and nodded.

"I don't have my tape recorder with me, but I will do what I can," I replied.

The storyteller shifted in her seat, and after a brief nod of acknowledgement, she began her story.

* * *

**Once, long ago, lived a great one who was never content with itself. It stayed in a small place, never daring to venture away.**

**It was quite adept at forming technologies, but never dared show any to the outside world, for fear that it would be misused. The trepidation held it back as always, and its work went unnoticed by anybody else.**

**The stranger was in its abode one day when a stranger knocked at its door. The great one paused in its studies, looking to the doorway of its abode with a certain sense of surprise as it moved over. There in the doorway stood an old one, barely able to lift itself off of the floor. Pain registered greatly in its eyes, and it looked as if it had not eaten in weeks.**

**Seeing this, the great one let out a cry of surprise, rushing to the ailing poleepkwa and bringing it into the abode it stood in. The ailing one asked for food as soon as it was situated on a place to rest. The young one complied, bringing the best food it had to the stranger. It beckoned for water, and the young one obeyed. The old one fell asleep soon after, and the young one nodded appreciatively before returning back to its duties.**

**The next morning, the uncertain one was surprised when the ravished one was eyeing its inventions. Nervous, the owner of the abode moved to hide its work when the old man held up a claw.**

**"Hold," it said. "What strange things are here?"**

**The young one hesitated before it replied. "I... These are inventions of mine..." It revealed its work to the stranger. "I... I work on them when I am not doing anything for the village."**

**"I see..." said the old stranger. "Aid me, young one; I would like to get a closer look..."**

**The great one complied without another question, supporting the old one as it was brought closer to the inventions. Its eyes took on a quality of wonder as they looked over the inventions. The great one offered explanations to the stranger as to what each one did, and it stood fascinated at the technological marvel that occurred. As the final invention was introduced, the young one noticed its guest had an inquisitive look upon its face.**

**"What is it, strange one?" it asked.**

**The old one turned to the younger, a kind smile dancing on its mouth. "This display of new ideas is wondrous..." it said. "And it is beautiful as well. But why keep it all to yourself?"**

**The young one hesitated as it looked at its guest. "I do not know what these inventions will actually do..." it admitted. "Or the full extent of what their effect will be. For only I have used these inventions; but greater men may find a different use for them... one that may not be good for all. I fear what may happen if I reveal them... If I knew, I would reveal them..."**

**The old one smiled at this, the smile suddenly seeming much more sure of itself.**

**"Fear not..."**

**And a bright light shone above all else in the room. Startled, the young one let go, watching the thing transform before its eyes.**

**The stranger shifted into the form of Boreal, the great god of the heavens, the good looking down on the nervous poleepkwa with kind eyes. A soft smile came then as Boreal presented itself.**

**"I have tested your worth, young one," replied the God. "And I find you worthy of a gift for your kindness to a total stranger. Seeing you here... I believe I know which gift I shall give you."**

**With this, the god held its hands out, and in its claw a medallion materialized. It was a medallion of finest gold, a seemingly blank jewel at its center as it shone brightly in the light of the god. The nervous one stepped forward, taking the medallion.**

**"I give you this, that it may tell you what will happen," replied the god in a regal voice. "You have proven yourself worthy, young one. Now go out, and do not be shy. Your inventions shall lead to the betterment of the earth. And if you have any futher boon you wish to ask of me, do not hesitate to pray to me. For your kindness is great, and it will reward you a thousand fold in the future..."**

**And with this, the god vanished from sight, leaving the young one to stand alone. It glanced to its inventions briefly, before knowing what it would do.**

**And so, with medallion in hand, it went to the other inventions, and with this it saw all the good they would do the people of its village. With this new confidence, it revealed its work to the elites of the village, who saw the good in them. And so, they were introduced to the village, and the young man's confidence swelled. I****t eventually travelled to the greatest temple in all of the land to ask Boreal to bestow the gift of foresight to all other poleepkwans on the earth.**

**And it was so. The gift was given to all poleepkwans everywhere, and with the gift of foresight they were able to see every effect of what they made.**

* * *

"_The end..._"

And with this, I nodded, raising my eyebrow. "_For the record, I still don't see why they made those weapons that blow people up..._" commented Harold almost immediately.

"Well, they probably know what they are getting themselves into," I replied.

"_Exactly,_" said Edward with a tip of his antennae. "_I have a feeling we knew what we were doing when we made the weapons._"

"_I don't think they used them all that much there..._" commented David. "_But then again, none of us know that for sure..._"

I nodded. "I guess we lack that foresight in a lot of things..." I commented. "We still do have it, but we also have doubt..."

Caroline simply tilted one of her anntenae in reply. "_Understandeable_," she said. "_I wonder if you have any tales that relate what your worst fears for technology are..._"

I blinked then, remembering that my brother had been a bit of a science fiction nut in his secondary school years. I remembered one story in particular that he talked a lot about, but I had never gotten to reading it until I was in my undergraduate schooling. I had checked it out then, and was quite surprised by how good it was.

"There is one..." I said. "It was written a few years ago by a man named Harlan Ellison... I could probably bring it over here tomorrow night if I can steal Marius' laptop again."

"_Of course,_" said Harold. "_I'm looking forward to it..._"

And with this, we began finishing up our conversation for the night, and as usual, I fled back to the human part of District 10.

* * *

As I was looking for any websites that had _I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream_, I had the first solitary encounter with Dawid that I had gotten in quite some time.

He sort of just walked into my tent as I was browsing the internet with Marius' laptop, and he seemed to look down at me a little condescendingly.

"Hey, Curtis," he said.

I continued typing away on the computer as my google search kept up turning very few results. "Dawid?" I asked. "I hardly ever see you these days..."

"I see plenty of you, though," he replied. "You mind explaining what you were doing in the district last night?"

I remember that my hair almost instantly stood on end as I looked up at the other Afrikaaner. I knew many things were wrong with this, least of which being the fact that Dawid was not sharing any night shifts with anyone. This puzzled me greatly, but what scared me more was perhaps his connection to Hendrik. If Hendrik ever found out what I was doing within the district, he would go straight to Piet. And the consequences of what would happen were grave.

This possibility only occurred to me right after the conversation started. But my first concern was how Dawid knew in the first place.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, diverting my gaze from the screen of the laptop. "Did you go on night shift recently or something?"

The Afrikaaner nodded, crossing his arms. "Spotlight duty," he replied. I thought I saw something moving within the district well after curfew."

I sighed in relief then. I knew I could possibly make up a story about it to avoid suspicion. "Why did you think it was me?"

"Maybe it was because I thought I recognized the MNU armor when I noticed you?" he asked.

I rose my eyebrow at this. "Now why did you think it was me?" I asked. "It could have been anything. Another guard at the district. Perhaps a prawn-" I inwardly cringed at having to say that word, "-was violating curfew? You don't really have any definitive proof that it was me you were looking at."

Dawid looked over to me, his expression taking on a more confused quality. Deciding to take off with this, I shifted where I sat, crossing my arms. "How many shapes did you see last night, anyhow?" I queried.

"Uh... about ten..." he admitted.

"Then why single me out?" I continued.

He glanced nervously about the tent before looking over his shoulder briefly. When he did, I noticed he was shaking. "Well... I mean... What I mean is..."

"Hendrik told you it might be me, didn't you?" I asked.

"Uh... perhaps..." he admitted, almost nervously.

I rolled my eyes, realizing again that Hendrik had Piet's approval to spy on me no matter what. If he had wanted to implant the idea, then Dawid would go looking for me until I slipped up somewhere. I began to get the feeling that Hendrik was really beginning to dislike me for whatever reason. I could not place it, but it still made me cringe a little that Hendrik would think so little of me.

And now that he was attempting to get Dawid to follow his lead, I began to dislike Hendrik as well. Dawid was a dear friend of Hendrik, but I really began to feel as time wore on within the District that Hendrik was abusing his friendship with Dawid by trying to get him to spy on me for whatever reason. In a way, I still hate Hendrik for that.

At the moment, though, I had no idea how far it would go, so I simply continued the conversation.

"Dawid, you know I'm not idiotic enough to wander into the district in the middle of the night," I replied. "I could get myself killed in there, and nobody would know until the searchlights came on, possibly later if they were fast! You know I am aware of the risk..."

Dawid shook his head. "It's just... Hendrik doesn't like something about your night shift..." he admitted. "I don't know why, but..."

"Don't worry about Hendrik," I replied with a dismissive handwave. "He is likely just a little paranoid is all. You shouldn't worry, Dawid. I'll be fine."

The Afrikaaner nodded at this, seeming to have bought my story. "Well... Sorry for having bothered you..." he said.

"It's no problem," I replied, turning my attention back to the laptop. "You take care of yourself."

And with this, Dawid abruptly left, almost as quickly as he had announced his presence there.

My feelings about this conversation were pretty mixed. I was pretty horrified by the deeper context of what it would mean if Piet found out aside from the problems that could arise if Hendrik continued to abuse his relationship with Dawid to spy on me like a drone in a James Bond film. It opened my eyes to how careful I had to be within the district, and so I realized I would have to cover my steps a little more.

Fortunately, I had Marius to cover me if all else failed. And our bond was already quite strong, and for that I am thankful.

* * *

I snuck the laptop into the district that night as usual, but I had planned on bringing the tape recorder as well.

They were waiting expectantly when I arrived, and when I got there we made some rather pleasant conversation before I had finally gotten the webpage loaded.

And when I did, I read _I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream_ to them. As I read, the descriptions of the horrors that AM inflicted upon the ones it was torturing seemed to jump at me far more. Perhaps it was because I was reading it to people that seemed to be going through it, but I imagine the metaphysical descriptions were too far out there for the comparison to be made. And so I read on, finding some strange new appreciation for the work of Harlan Ellison as I did.

When I finished, I simply nodded to them as they all glanced at each other. Nobody seemed willing to speak up at first, all of them shifting uneasily. Finally, Harold came first, looking at me with kind eyes.

"_Frankly, Curtis... That hit a bit close to home,_" was his reply.

I blinked briefly, confused as to why Harold would find it so close to his situation. "Why?" he asked.

"_It reminds me a bit of District 9..._" he said suddenly. "_We had promises... but we couldn't fulfill any of them... At least we had a better fate than Ted._"

"You mean it was worse in District 9?" I asked.

"_The two are about equal,_" elaborated Edward cooly. "_We never had freedom in either, but in District 9, there was the illusion of it floating around, like the cans of food. In District 10, there is more brutality, but we know that we are not free..._"

The implications of the poleepkwa's statement came like a slap in the face to me. I looked at the impassive poleepkwa with surprise and sadness registering on my face as I looked at them. Instantly, a thought came to my mind then, but I could not find a way to adequately voice it then. In many ways, I still cannot. For how could I tell them that I personally thought District 9 was worse? Brutality was horrendous enough, but the illusion of freedom was something that I found infinitely more appalling. But how could I tell them I thought where they were then was better than where they were before?

I found myself at a loss to describe it. So I did not.

"I... I'm sorry..." I said.

"_Don't be..._" replied Jamecyn. "_It's good to know that _some_ humans actually understand what suffering is..._"

I looked to the normally hot-headed poleepkwa in surprise. "Well, you do realize it was written in the 1960's in human years, yes?" I asked.

"_So much the better, then..._" pointed out Jamecyn's mate. "_It means that not all of you are evil._"

"_At least we have hope that others still care for us..._" said Mark, looking over optimistically.

"_See?_" asked David, pointing a talon up. "_Kyler was right, after all._"

I blinked. It was the first I had heard of Kyler Asher in a long time, but I decided not to bring this up until I knew more. However, the name of that poleepkwan began to eat away at me briefly, as I knew then that he had some form of secret that very few of them liked to talk about.

"_Did you ever have any doubt?_" pointed out Caroline. "_Curtis here has been very good to us._"

"_True..._" said the medic with a shrug. "_But this only proves it more, I think._"

"_You've got that right,_" agreed Jamecyn.

I nodded at this. "I see..." I said. "You may have foresight, but you still have doubts. I guess we both have doubts about things, yes?"

"_Any sentient life should,_" replied Caroline. "_It is only natural. It is why our gift of foresight is such a beautiful thing. We have no room for idealism; we know what could happen, and we know what to do to keep it from happening._"

"_Or something,_" added Harold.

This addendum caused Jamecyn to chuckle, and I admit I could not help but be amused myself. "Or something, indeed..." I added.

The rest of the night was spent in friendly conversation, as our nights usually ended. Caroline told a tale, we had discussion about it, and I drew a few parallels to Earth mythology. It was always good when I got to converse with the poleepkwan tent, and I felt very good about myself when it finally came time for me to leave. When I left, however, I made extra careful to avoid the spotlights, given what Dawid had told me earlier in the day about seeing me sneaking around the District at night. I did not want to have those nights taken away from me by something beyond my control.

I never would have forgiven myself if I let them get taken away.


	28. A Good Father

Okay, welcome back.

God damn, I think _Mass Vexations_ took over my life. I haven't updated this in forever as a result! I am so terribly sorry for putting you guys through that!

So yeah, let's hope I can actually update this a little more frequently in the future...

All right, so I think it's high time for some character development, yes? In the following filler episodes, I'll try to develop some of the characters I've got here. So I'll start with various people. Let's get going, shall we?

* * *

A Good Father

When I saw Marius next, we were at the mess tent. Without wasting another breath, I asked him to come over. James somehow came along as well, and then all three of us were there as I explained what Dawid told me the day before. I told them about what he accused me of, and both of them jolted in their seats. It of course wasn't a surprise to either of them that I was entering the district, but it came as a definite shock when I informed them that either Dawid was more observant than usual or Hendrik was on to me.

"And the thing that frightens me most is what happens if either Dawid or Hendrik find out why," I said to them. "If they ever find out about that... I will be fired. And that means I'll never see Caroline or Edward or any of the other ones again. And Tania will be all alone with her baby..."

James was the first to nod at this. "Hey, don't worry about it, Curtis," he replied. "Your secret's safe with us, remember?"

"We just have to be more careful is all," replied Marius.

"I suppose," I said. "But still, I can't help but worry. What about everyone there? What will happen to them when it's found out they were the ones I was hanging out with?"

Marius shrugged at this. "We can only hope for the best, unfortunately," said the Afrikaaner. "But if anything happens to you, we'll try to watch over them."

"We'll try our best to, anyway," added James. "It's obvious these people mean a lot to you."

I remember blinking at this. "Are you serious?" I asked.

"Very much," said James. "And if worse comes to worse, we'll cover you too."

"Hell, I've already kind of been covering you," added Marius. "One extra vow isn't going to hurt that, I think."

I smiled then, looking at the two people that had proved to be my best friends in all of District 10. "Thank you," I reply, a small smile gracing me. "But we should try to be vague if Hendrik or Dawid overhear us."

"Of course," said the American, glancing to the side. "Your friends on the other side wouldn't mind, would they?"

I rose my eyebrows at this, not sure what to make of it at first. But then, I understood what he meant by 'other side'. I smiled then, a glimmer in my eyes as I placed my hands in front of me.

"I should hope not," I replied, my smile quite genuine. "I would be quite happy if we talked about my friends on the other side less frequently..."

"That can also be arranged," replied James with a kind smile.

Marius simply nodded in agreement, and I knew that I had reached an amicable agreement with the two of them.

* * *

A few days later, I had gotten an opportunity to enter the district during the day. It was a very rare opportunity from then on to do so, given that now we were extra vigilant under threat of Dawid. We knew he was onto us, and so we had to be extraordinarily careful.

James covered, of course, and as I entered the district I looked around. Fortunately, Hendrik and Dawid were both reasonably occupied with other things, as there was some violence occurring within the district. It was completely unscheduled, but it was quite welcome nonetheless as a distraction.

Eventually, I had bumped into Mark, with little Matthew standing there as well. I looked over to them, knowing that they would be my escorts into the district. The father gestured, and we walked away from the violence.

"So..." I said. "Where are we going now?"

"_Places,_" replied the father. "_We should try to stay as far away from the chaos as we can. If the humans see us with you, there's no telling what will happen..._"

I nodded. "I hear you, mate," I replied. "So, we're just going to wander around?"

"_And then we'll see what happens within the district, yes,_" continued the father.

I nodded briefly at this, and then the three of us slipped quietly away from the chaos that was just over there. There were the sounds of much fighting in there, as well as a few gunshots that were fired. I was afraid of what was happening there, and a small part of me wanted to help. Looking back now, and knowing what was actually happening, though, I realize there was very little I could do to help. Plus, I knew that I could have broken my cover if I went over there. So I marched away behind Mark, the father holding Matthew's hand very strongly as we moved through the district.

Occasionally, I could see Mark pull Matthew closer to him as we went through the district, steering clear of the chaos. And for the briefest second, when he looked behind me to see if I was still there, I thought I could see flashes of fear in his eyes. I was not sure what to make of it as I followed him deep into the heart of District 10, but I dared not bring it up while we were on the run.

So when we finally settled down somewhere very far from my posting, I looked to him and rose my eyebrows.

"Are you afraid of something?" I asked.

He held his hand up as Matthew sat there obediently. He nodded to his son, and then I could see him sigh in relief at not seeing the boy go anywhere. "_Make sure you keep one eye on Matthew at all times,_" he asked. "_This is no place for a child._"

I nodded my agreement to him shortly afterwards, not sure what else to do to the question. And as he sat there, I looked over to Matthew. I saw him innocently sitting there, and I glanced around the place, suddenly feeling a strange sense of foreboding.

For all around me, I saw unnatural markings on the tents. I assumed this was an area that MNU dared not set foot in. I found it ironic, then, that the only MNU guard to do so was me, and I was not exactly hateful of the poleepkwans. For I saw that these markings were made in blood. It was a very strange hue to see on the white tents of MNU to see various markings drawn in blood. I suddenly had the feeling I was thrust into East Germany during the Cold War, and as I sat there looking around me I began to see why Mark was not around.

But the markings confused me, so I turned to my guide. "Why is this place dangerous for children?" I asked, not daring to speak above a whisper as I looked around me.

Mark, thankfully, had great hearing, so I would not have needed to elaborate. "_This is the den of the Clan,_" replied Mark. "_They're a very dangerous group within the district._"

I knew right then and there that he was not comfortable talking about one of the dark sides of the district that was not caused by my kind, but all the same I could not help but be curious. And so, I leaned forward. "The clan?" I asked. "And what exactly makes them dangerous?"

"_Much,_" said Mark. "_It's extremely dangerous here. The only reason we're in here right now is that they're probably causing chaos over there..._"

"Really?" I asked. "Why would they leave their home territory?"

"_MNU doesn't see this..._" continued the father as Matthew sat there, not seeming to pay attention. "_But there's a constant turf war in District 10. There are all kinds of groups here. They deal in all kinds of things. Food, water, cat food, you name it, someone here specializes in this..._"

I blinked at the revelation, my eyes darting down to Matthew as he began playing games with the dirt. He seemed not to pay attention, so I continued the conversation. "So it's kind of like a gang war?" I asked.

"_It came in here from District 9,_" replied the father. "_There were poleepkwan gangs in the district as well. The Nigerians weren't the only ones running the show there, you know..._"

"Were they?" I asked. I leaned forward as I asked the question, a nagging doubt coming to my mouth afterwards. "And how do you know so much about this?"

"_I... erm..._" he said.

I knew almost as soon as he hesitated that he had been involved in gang activities at some point. With this, I shifted slightly, glancing down at Matthew. "I see..." I said. "I don't think you have to elaborate any more on that."

"_I left when Matthew was born..._" said Mark. "_I didn't want that life for him. Too dangerous. Especially here._"

I nod. "Must have been rather difficult getting out then, mate," I replied. "The way humans take people leaving their gangs is... well... not very nice."

He chortled at the suggestion, waving his hand. "_No, it wasn't difficult. But then again, I'm a poleepkwa,_" replied Mark. "_When a poleepkwa forms a gang, there is a kind of unshakeable trust that builds. There's no need to kill anyone who tries to leave, because we know they will still trust us. And they're usually respectful about the children of their former clansman._"

"Then why is this place dangerous?" I asked.

"_Because it is the turf of our most dangerous rival,_" replied Mark. "_From the looks of things, though, they're the ones causing all that trouble over there, so for the moment, we're safe._"

"Ah," I noted, coming to a conclusion. "So a gang in your terms is also like a brotherhood."

"_In a sense, yes,_" said the father. "_But it's not a life I would want for Matthew. It is far too dangerous. Raids are never an easy thing, especially now that MNU has a wire fence all around us..._"

"I see..." I said. "You know, human gangs tend to be very different about that sort of thing. They typically try to kill you."

The poleepkwa nodded in agreement. "_So I've heard,_" he replied. "_You know how it is. I would've taken us to where Matthew usually plays, but that is where all the chaos with your friends in MNU is._"

I looked back briefly at where the chaos was slowly beginning to die down. I looked back after a second, though, seeing Matthew still content by his father's side. "I see," I said. "I guess there shall be something strange about poleepkwan children's games?"

"_Maybe,_" said Mark with a slight shrug. "_I don't really know._"

"I guess we'll see soon, eh, mate?" I asked.

He offered me a very soft smile then, nodding. "_Yes, we shall,_" he replied.

And with this, we waited for the chaos in the district to die down. I dared not pry my eyes off of Matthew, not even for a second as I conversed with Mark. The entire time, the young poleepkwa simply sat there, drawing circles into the dirt around him. He was content to slowly let a hand rub against his son's head, giving the occasional touch that let Matthew know he was there. And whenever he did, I could hear Matthew interrupt our conversation briefly with a small chirp.

And every time he did, I offered him a very soft smile to convey my happiness at seeing him in such a good mood in an otherwise dismal place.

* * *

When the chaos finally died down a good half an hour later, Mark, Matthew, and I eventually migrated to where Matthew typically hung around to play within the district. It was a surprisingly open area of the district, and I saw all manner of children there. Matthew joined them briefly, but I quickly noticed that a lot of the children were unsupervised.

I joined Mark, watching them from a shadow as they played all sorts of games. I saw them chase each other around the rather small field, almost like a game of tag. I saw them do something akin to wrestling- with sticks, somehow. I saw them play some variation of tag wherein they sang aloud each time they got touched.

The scene was almost too innocent to be in District 10. There were very few parents around, and as I saw them playing around they sort of chortled extensively in happiness. It was almost as if they had the chance to be normal children in this field, and I remember sidling up to Mark as they played around the place leaping about like wild pixies in the air.

"They seem so carefree here..." I commented to the father.

One of his antennae twitched in agreement. "_It's a good sight for someone like me,_" he said. "_It really puts things into perspective, you know._"

I nodded. I watched them play about, with Matthew rolling around the grass with one of the children. "How often do you come out here?" I asked. "And how secure is it?"

We saw some of the children jump up over Matthew and the other child, all of them chortling gleefully. One grabbed a stick and began to dance around with it, being careful of how it maneuvered around the other children in the area.

"_There are many things that you don't do with us,_" said Mark as he watched this. "_One of them is to attack a child. You don't really get along so well if you attack one._"

I blink as I watch another child take a hold of the stick and lead the original bearer around the field. "Which makes that one poleepkwan that tried to take the food from Saskia that much more dishonorable," I replied.

"_Essentially,_" replied Mark. "_Fortunately for him, word travels pretty slowly around here. But eventually, they would've found him. Maybe torn him apart._"

I raise one of my eyebrows, and am quite quickly taken by the way the other children slowly gather in a circle, watching the two children holding the stick run in a near-perfect circle around each other. I can see them chortle, then when they raise their arms, and the stick with it. I watch a child prepare itself, with Matthew standing in the crowd in a strange kind of chant as the child prepared itself. Finally, after a few seconds of waiting the child jumped into the center, and managed to go under the stick and roll out the other side in one piece. This was even with the other two poleepkwans running around in a circle, which I imagine made things extremely difficult.

"I see you guys like to tear sinners apart," I commented. "From the way it seems, it's the ultimate insult to someone's memory if you tear them apart."

"_That pretty much sums it up,_" replied Mark. "_Ever since I was a boy, all I knew was that if anybody did anything really bad, they'd get torn apart in public._"

I nodded at this, watching the other children jump through, even seeing Matthew do it as well. I looked to Mark then. "And if they neglect their children?" I asked. "What then?"

Mark was silent at this question, the children still playing with the stick as he pondered this. He looked to the children breifly before turning to me. "_I don't know,_" he said. "_But no matter what, I try to do right by my son. I..._"

"You really care about him a lot, don't you?" I ask.

"_Yes,_" replied Mark. "_If you must know... I wouldn't use this term, but I was the 'mother' of the situation._"

I rose an eyebrow at this. "Meaning you gave birth," I said.

"_Yes,_" replied the parent. "_I... There's something strange in creating something. You look at it, and you want to hold it to yourself. Protect it with everything you have. You know?_"

For the first time in the conversation, I found myself pausing to think about my reply. It took a few seconds to gather my wits at what he had just said, and when I did, I took my eyes off of the children for only a split second.

"I... am not entirely sure," I replied with a shrug. "I have never really created a life before, if you understand my meaning. But I think I understand your drive."

He nodded at that. "_I do my best to be a good parent,_" replied Mark. "_I rarely ever leave his side, you know. It's the only assurance I have that he's safe._"

He gestures out to the children playing, who have since broken the circle and begun to play a strange game of tug-o-war with the stick. "_But it is moments such as this that give me hope,_" he continued. "_If my child can laugh in a place like this... Then it's one of the best things that I can ask for as a parent. I don't want Matthew to grow up with despair on his back. I want him to be as happy as he can be. And seeing him like this... it gives me hope that I'm doing right by him._"

I nodded at this, looking at the children all falling over and chortling loudly. I turned to him then, patting him softly on the leg where he sat against the ground. "I think you are doing right by him," I replied. "It's hard to see such good intentions in a place like this, you know?"

The parent poleepkwa simply nodded at this question, and we continued watching Matthew play with the other children for a long time afterwards.

* * *

I returned back to the outskirts that afternoon feeling very strange about seeing the children playing games. And so I took it away with me when I left.

But I could not stop thinking about Mark's musings on parenthood. More importantly, I always wondered if he shielded Matthew too much. I thought about it through dinner, but dared not tell anyone until Marius and I were by ourselves at the night shift. He did not have very many thoughts to offer about the observations I had made about Mark. And so, we both pondered his points.

And when I arrived at the tent that evening, things went about as they usually did. David was gone again to help Wilbur, so the rest of us simply tossed around Mark's observations on parenthood.

It was then that I found out that Caroline and Edward were both very disinclined towards having any offspring. This struck me very much by surprise; one would find that the two of them were as in love as two poleepkwans could be, and yet I did not understand why the would not want children. But they explained that it was too much of a hassle under MNU, and I was left to once again curse my employer upon finding out how much paperwork a poleepkwan needed to muddle through before they could have a child. And that did not include the papers once the child was born, apparently, and it left me in disbelief how much paperwork my employer would make a poleepkwan waddle through.

Jamecyn left a few more very brusque comments about the whole thing, but I cannot say I blamed her in this instance. She was very averse to parenting.

But nevertheless, they had Matthew to dote on as family. And honestly, I am glad Matthew had the support of so many; such support was rare to find in such a place as District 10. I always considered Matthew to be one of the luckier ones; from what the adults mentioned the other children were not as lucky. But as I looked at the child's face as he slept... I don't know... I found something rather weathered in there even despite the innocence. I couldn't help but think about this, so I resolved to ask if I ever got him alone.

Caroline told a story afterwards, and as usual it pertained to the topic. But with the story, I felt that the sense of innocence that Matthew had was mostly gone. So I shall relate it as I heard it that night:

* * *

**Once, long ago, there was a quiet one who watched everything unfold around it from within its small hut. Nothing escaped its notice, even if it did not care. Things simply happened, and it would take great pains to memorize it.**

**One day, the vigilant one saw a strange sight. There was a young one that only just appeared that would take to playing in the center of the road alone. There was no one else that would play with it, and it seemed to go about unsupervised. The quiet one's curiosity was piqued, but he dared not exit his hut for fear that someone would see something out of the ordinary. So the child played out in the street outside the quiet one's house, and when it went home the quiet one retired.**

**The young one came the next day at the exact same time, and then it came again for every subsequent day after. The vigilant one's interest was taken by this young one; it would play all by itself at strange times of the day. Some ancient feeling was stirred within the vigilant one, and he began to concentrate on the youth as it was very interesting.**

**Over time, the vigilant one became something of a protector to the young one; it was always silent, never saying anything at all or revealing its presence to the young one. It simply watched, a silent guardian who slowly came to care greatly for the young one for its unusual qualities. Nothing was ever exchanged, but somehow the vigilant one got the feeling the young one began to notice that it was being watched by a kindly guardian.**

**It was such when one day the youth did not appear in its usual place. This confused the vigilant one immensley, but when it heard a rapping at the wall of the tent, it was genuinely curious. Going to the entrance of the hut, the vigilant one found the young child it had been watching standing in the doorway, eyes wide in curiosity. It asked for its place to stay for the night, pledging to do nothing.**

**And the vigilant one took pity on the youth, and admitted it into its home. The youth spent the night there, sleeping cozily against the seat that was the only other bed the vigilant one had. It slept well, and ended up staying through the entire day listlessly wandering around the silent one's hut.**

**The curious one could take it no longer. When it came up to the youth, it ventured to ask why it had taken such overt interest in the silent one's area. The youth admitted to being very unloved by all around it; even its own parent scorned it. It wanted a person to care about it, and it wanted love. It had noticed the vigilant man, and it figured perhaps it would find an abode.**

**The silent one's heart swept with pity for the young thing, that such an innocent creature could be so hated. It told the youth to stay as long as it liked, much to the youth's happiness and much to the joy of the vigilant creature.**

**And so, the silent one and the youth came to live together in such a time. The silent one's life of loneliness came to a slow end, and the youth began to feel loved again. They lived in such a way for the rest of their lives, and they were both the better for it.**

* * *

"_And so it ends._"

Caroline tacked this on to the end of her story as I recorded it. With a simple nod, I look over to them.

"So..." I began, looking at my companions within the tent. "It seems like a poleepkwan family is bound more by parental figures than by genetics?"

"_I would think so,_" said Edward from behind Caroline. The grand poleepkwan seemed to rise up from behind his mate as his mouthparts moved in speech. "_Some of the children here have more adoptive parents. I guess it's all just a matter of how they are raised._"

"_Matthew is my biological child, if you are wondering,_" said Mark from the side. "_It's great if we can have the biological children with us when we live in this place._"

I nodded. "He must be the only thing you have," I said then, placing my hands on my lap as I place the recorder in my armor pocket.

"_That makes it all the better, I think,_" said Mark. "_Being in a place like this... I think it makes you think about your priorities a little... And who you care about most._"

"_Oh, hush,_" replied Jamecyn, looking at the other poleepkwa as she leaned against her makeshift bed. "_I think it's pretty clear-cut who to trust here. You trust the others, you don't trust the gangs, you don't trust anyone from MNU whose name isn't Curtis Bax, and we trust people here the most._" The green poleepkwa hardened her gaze at the father as she finished this.

I raised my hand in Mark's defense then. "I don't think that's what he meant, Jamecyn," I replied. "I meant... more in close connections."

"_Right..._" she was quick to reply, crossing her arms in front of her.

I shrugged then. "You know... it makes me think a little," I commented. "There are... plenty of tales humans tell about people raising children that aren't their own... Some don't end so well, I'm afraid, but... there are many such myths where the character is raised by a different person who's not their biological parents. It... sort of creates the same thing that is seen in you, I believe."

Caroline seemed to rear back in some form of surprise as I said this. "_They don't...?_" she asked.

"It's... a long story," I replied. "But... if they're an adopted child, it's not really the most important part of the story. Not like that. But still..."

"_Well... it can't be all that bad to think about a tale with all those conditions, right?_" asked Mark.

I bit my lower lip then, looking right at the parently poleepkwa. "Oh, it can be pretty bad sometimes, trust me," I told him. "I think I'll go ahead and tell you the tale of Oedipus Rex so you can get a better sense of what you're talking about."

Eyebrows were raised all around the tent, but I paid it no mind. After a rather short break, I looked to the others and began to tell them the tale of Oedipus Rex.

* * *

As I walked back to my post that night under the cover of darkness, I began to ponder on what Caroline and Edward were thinking about.

They were disinclined to have offspring... And yet I had the greatest feeling they would have been great parents. They both managed to keep a rather level head despite everything horrible that was happening all around us in District 10, they knew how to watch after a child, and I imagine they would have been great at it. I know there were practical reasons as well that they did not do so, but I was puzzled as to why they never decided on it.

They never would have any offspring during my time at that small patch of land. It was always something that all of us understood to be true; they would never bear any children.

I always did think it a little sad, though: I had always hoped to see Caroline tell a story to her own child. That would have been something beautiful, I think.

I wondered, too, about the child that had lost his parent. Saskia. I was curious to meet Saskia and Kyler, see what their thoughts on the subject were. I didn't want to intrude, though, so I held it within me as I continued collecting stories from Caroline.


End file.
